MIAMI -- The Miami Marlins have suspended manager Ozzie Guillen for five games for comments he made in which he expressed admiration for Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

"The Marlins acknowledge the seriousness of the comments attributed to Guillen," the team said in a prepared statement announcing the move. "The pain and suffering caused by Fidel Castro cannot be minimized especially in a community filled with victims of the dictatorship."

Marlins bench coach Joey Cora will be the interim manager during the suspension. Guillen said he would fly back to Philadelphia, where the Marlins resume their series with the Phillies on Wednesday, to address the team.

Speaking first in Spanish on Tuesday morning in Miami, Guillen apologized to the city, its Cuban-American community and all Latin Americans for the comments, which were published on Time magazine's website last week.

"I feel like I betrayed my Latin community," Guillen said, according to ESPN's translation of his comments in Spanish. "I am here to say I am sorry with my heart in my hands and I want to say I'm sorry to all those people who are hurt indirectly or directly."

"I'm sorry for what I said and for putting people in a position they don't need to be in. And for all the Cuban families, I'm sorry," he said, according to ESPN's translation. "I hope that when I get out of here, they will understand who Ozzie Guillen is. How I feel for them. And how I feel about the Fidel Castro dictatorship. I'm here to face you, person to person. It's going to be a very difficult time for me."

In a prepared statement, baseball commissioner Bud Selig said MLB supported the suspension. He said baseball as an institution has "important social responsibilities," and he expects those representing the game to show respect and sensitivity to its many cultures.

Protesters outside Marlins Park ripped up a copy of the Marlins' logo on Tuesday. AP Photo/Lynne Sladkys

"Guillen's remarks, which were offensive to an important part of the Miami community and others throughout the world, have no place in our game," said Selig, who, with Orioles owner Peter Angelos, sat with Castro when Baltimore played an exhibition game in Cuba in 1999.

On Tuesday, Guillen said repeatedly he does not admire Castro. Guillen, whose first language is Spanish, said when the comments were made, he was talking about how he was surprised Castro was able to remain in power so long, given the number of people he had hurt since taking power.

"The interpretation didn't come out as I wanted," Guillen said in Spanish, according to ESPN's translation. "I was thinking in Spanish and I said the wrong thing in English."

Asked how the statement "I love Fidel Castro" could be misconstrued, Guillen once again said he was talking about how surprised he was that Castro had been able to stay in power for so long.

"Everybody in the world hates Fidel Castro, including myself," Guillen said. "I was surprised that he's still in power. That's what I was trying to say to the journalist. And that's the first thing that came out of my mouth. I admit it. It was the wrong words."

There was no immediate response to an Associated Press request for comment from government and sports officials in Cuba.

In Cuba, the evening newscast aired an interview by Venezuela-based Telesur with Emilio Garcia, a Cuban journalist in Miami.