The Cuban government, seeking to reassure Cubans after intestinal surgery forced Fidel Castro to temporarily cede power to his brother, released a statement from him saying his health is stable, his spirits good and the defense of the island guaranteed.

 

Raul Castro, the brother and designated successor, has remained silent and out of sight, issuing no statements of his own while the focus of state media remained solely on Fidel.

 

"Fidel, Get Well," read a front page headline in the official daily Granma. "The Revolution Will Continue While Fidel Recovers," proclaimed Juventud Rebelde, the official youth newspaper.

 

The statement by the elder Castro, who temporarily handed power to his brother Monday night after surgery, expressed gratitude for the good wishes he received from leaders and supporters around the world and called on Cubans to remain calm as they carried out their daily routines.

 

"The country is prepared for its defense," he said, apparently to assure Cubans the island was safe from potential US attack.

 

"The important thing is that in the country everything is going perfectly well, and will continue to do so," said the statement, read on government television Tuesday night.

 

The leaders of China, Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia and Mexico were among many wishing Castro well. But in Washington, politicians were already speculating about a post-Castro Cuba.

 

The EU forwarded a get-well wish to Castro yesterday, adding that it has not yet planned for dealing with a post-Castro Cuba.

 

Relations between Havana and the 25-nation bloc have been icy over the past few years. The EU last year lifted sanctions imposed in 2003 after Cuban authorities allegedly detained 75 dissidents, which had included shunning high-level talks with Cuban officials.

 

Castro, 79 and the world's longest-serving head of government, acknowledged the operation was serious, saying "I cannot make up positive news." But he said his health was "stable" and "as for my spirits, I feel perfectly fine."

 

He apologized for not giving more details, but said the threat posed to his government by the US means his health must be treated as "a state secret." No images of the leader were shown.

 

Anxiety among Cubans

 

Still there was some anxiety among Cubans.

 

"Everything is normal here for the moment," said 41-year-old hospital worker Emilio Garcia. "But we've never experienced this before it's like a small test of how things could be without Fidel."

 

It was unknown when or where the surgery took place or where Castro was recovering.

 

Cubans were stunned when Castro's secretary read a letter on state television Monday night announcing their leader was temporarily turning over power to his 75-year-old brother Raul, the island's defense minister and his designated successor.

 

In that first letter, Castro, who turns 80 on August 13, said doctors operated to repair a "sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding."

 

The calm delivery of the initial announcement appeared intended to signal that any transition of power would be orderly. Yet some feared resentment over class divisions could spark conflict if a political vacuum develops.

 

"It's better for things to move slowly, instead of abrupt change," Garcia said. "But people are a bit nervous anything could happen."

 

'Stay out, Americans'

 

In Washington, the State Department said it would support a "democratic transition" in Cuba. "We believe that the Cuban people aspire and thirst for democracy," spokesman Sean McCormack said.

 

But a Cuban fisherman said he had a message for the US government: Stay out.

 

"In my house, I don't allow any outsider to order me around," Lazaro Alfonso Gonzalez, 58, said at a pro-Castro rally in Havana. "Cuba is my home, and none of us will allow anyone to come here and tell us what to do."

 

(China Daily August 3, 2006)