The Miami Marlins baseball team suspended manager Ozzie Guillen for five games after he praised Cuba's Fidel Castro in a magazine interview, the team announced on Tuesday.
Guillen, who took over as manager of the team this year has come under attack locally after saying he has respect for Cuba's ailing former leader. The Venezuelan-born Guillen told Time magazine's online edition, "I love Fidel Castro." He went on to say he admired the way Castro had survived in power for almost 50 years.
He later apologized for the comments, saying he was deeply "embarrassed" by having offended Miami's large Cuban exile community. Guillen was to appear a news conference Tuesday as well.
"The Marlins acknowledge the seriousness of the comments attributed to Guillen," the team said in a statement. "The pain and the suffering caused by Fidel Castro cannot be minimized, especially in a community filled with victims of the dictatorship."
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