The Castro Love Affair

Reuters

Reuters reports,

Cuban President Fidel Castro, the world's third longest serving head of state, stepped down temporarily on Monday after intestinal surgery, handing over power for the first time to his brother Raul Castro, state television announced.

President? Can someone tell me when Fidel was last "elected" by the Cuban people? Just when was that election held and what is the term length specified in their "constitution"? 60 years?

Castro gave the reins of the ruling Communist Party, the post of commander in chief of the armed forces and president of the executive council of state to Raul Castro, 75, his younger brother and constitutional successor.

[Fidel] Castro, who will be 80 on August 13, said in a statement read out on television that he overexerted himself this month on a trip to a summit of South American leaders in Argentina and celebrations of his 1953 assault on a military garrison.

"This caused an acute intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding that obliged me to face a complicated surgical operation," he said in the "proclamation" read out by his personal aide Carlos Valenciaga.

"The operation obliges me to remain for several weeks resting, away from my responsibilities and duties," it said.

As Opinion Journal points out, some of his enthusiasts among Western journalists apparently were surprised by the relevation that Castro is a mere mortal like the rest of us.

The Associated Press 'reports' that the Cuban people obviously must be morons and were clueless to the fact that Castro was mortal, up until recently that is:

Talk of Castro's mortality was taboo until June 23, 2001, when he fainted during a speech in the sun. Although Castro quickly recovered, many Cubans understood for the first time that their leader would eventually die.

Reuters joins the love fest:

The left-wing leader has enjoyed a revival in international support. . . . Castro is admired in many Third World nations for standing up to the United States and providing free education and health care. He has won friends. . . . Castro was greeted by crowds like a rock star. . . . Anti-globalization youths see him as a hero. . . .

Yet, at home critics say Castro has subjected Cuba's 11 million people to collectivized poverty in a police state.