image

Cuban President Fidel Castro, left, confers with his brother Raul Castro, in this Dec. 20, 1999 photo during a meeting of the Cuban National Assembly 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)