Fading away

摘要

"I am in perfectly good spirits," de-clared Fidel Castro after being rushed into surgery on July 31st following a bout of intestinal bleeding. Since his medical details are a state secret, the rest of the world can only guess whether his health is as perky. But the Cuban dictator, who turns 80 on August 13th, was feeling unwell enough to hand over power temporarily for the first time in his 47-year rule, to Raul Castro, his brother and Cuba's long-serving defence minister. Cuban exiles in Miami, convinced that the end of the Castro era is at hand, rejoiced, perhaps prematurely. Mr Castro may bounce back. Even so, his unplanned holiday from power will probably be seen as the beginning of the end of his rule.