Castro's decline leaves Cuba at the crossroads

Castro's decline leaves Cuba at the crossroads

06 August 2006 By Alex Massie
When Fidel Castro broke his left arm and knee after falling from a stage
in 2004, he made sure that the Cuban people knew that he remained in charge.

When Fidel Castro broke his left arm and knee after falling from a stage
in 2004, he made sure that the Cuban people knew that he remained in
charge. Even as he went into surgery, he declined a general anaesthetic
in favour of one that eased the pain only from the waist down.

Last week, there was no hiding the seriousness of the ageing dictator's
physical decline.

As he went into surgery suffering from intestinal bleeding he
transferred power to his 75-year-old younger brother Raul.

For the first time since the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro was not the
master of his island.

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