People waved Cuban flags on Little Havana's Calle Ocho, shouting "Cuba, Cuba, Cuba," hoping that the end was near for the man most of them consider a ruthless dictator. There were hugs, cheers and dancing as drivers honked their horns. Many of Miami's exiles fled the communist island or have parents and grandparents who did.

"We long for the day when power transfers in Cuba are the results of a free, democratic process and reflect the wishes of the Cuban people, not the preordained wishes of a dictator" said Joanna Gonzalez, spokeswoman for Raices de Esperanza, or Roots of Hope. "Although this transfer of power is being characterized as temporary, the oppression under which the Cuban people live is enduring and continues."

U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Miami Republican, added: "This is a clear reminder that the end of the Castro regime is approaching, and that the only solution is free elections and the rule of law."

Castro said in a statement read on Cuban television that he had suffered intestinal bleeding, apparently due to stress from recent public appearances in Argentina and Cuba.

Castro said that extreme stress "had provoked in me a sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding that obligated me to undergo a complicated surgical procedure."

Castro also requested the celebration of his 80th birthday on Aug. 13 be postponed until Dec. 2, the 50th anniversary of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.

Raul Castro, who turned 75 in June, has been taking on a more public profile in recent weeks.

Coast Guard officials said they were on standby, awaiting further orders. "No ships have moved, no cutters have moved, everything is on standby," spokesman Dana Warr said. "We have units under way, but no plans from the Coast Guard have been put into action yet."

U.S. officials have long had plans in place to head off any possible mass exodus from Cuba by sea in case that the government suddenly opened the island's borders as occurred during the Mariel boatlift in 1980 and again during a similar crisis in 1995.

Miami police were monitoring the celebrations.

"Over the years there have been rumors that Castro has passed on, but there is no belief that it will be a bad time, that there will be mass riots," said police spokesman Delrish Moss. "Just the opposite—lots of celebration, lots of joy and happiness."

A spokesman for the federal Department of Homeland Security said there had been no changes in national security measures.

Arturo Cobo, a Cuban exile activist, said it seemed strange that the secretive Cuban government had disclosed Castro's operation.

"Either he is dead or this is an elaborate practice for the Cuban government to test the reaction of its military, its ministry, its people and the American government," Cobo said.

While watching the news from his Miami home, Cobo speculated that the "practice" could be a way for Castro to test who his enemies are and who his friends are on the island.

Cobo said that the exile community had been waiting for this "forever."

"There is exultation and joy in the exile community tonight," he said.

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