bild

Cuban leader Fidel Castro, left, and his brother Raul Castro chief of the Cuban Army are shown during the end of the year session of the Cuban National assembly in this Dec. 21, 2000 photo in Havana, Cuba. Fidel Castro, who has defied the United States for nearly half a century while wielding absolute power over this island 90 miles south of Florida, remained out of sight Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2006, after undergoing intestinal surgery and temporarily turning over power to his brother Raul. (KEYSTONE/AP Photo/Jose Goitia)