Havana - Six months after his last public appearance, Cuban
President Fidel Castro was recovering 'very well,' official sources
said in rare remarks about his health in Havana.
'He is still exercising the leadership of the country, and in all
these months of recovery he has followed with discipline all the
indications and orders of the doctors,' Parliament Speaker Ricardo
Alarcon said, according to media reports Friday.
He added that even those who currently falsify news 'must
recognize Cuba's health and normality.'
The comments marked the third time this week that officials have
spoken of Castro's intestinal illness which has been treated with
several surgeries. Alarcon's emphasis on the 'normality' of the
country could be seen as a reassurance that there will be a calm
transition when Castro, the world's longest-serving leader, dies.
Last Saturday, the tone was not so optimistic when Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez, one of Castro's closest political allies, said
the leader was seriously ill and 'fighting for his life.'
Castro was going through a difficult situation, Chavez said, and
people should not forget that the machine that has to be repaired
is 80 years old. He added that Castro was a man who like the late
Cuban-Argentinian freedom fighter Che Guevara 'will never die.'
On Thursday, Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage was in Venezuela,
where he declared Cuba would have Castro and his brother
Raul, who has taken temporary control of the country, 'for a long
time yet, and will have socialism forever.'
Castro, who has ruled Cuba for 47 years, transferred
responsibility for governmental affairs to his younger brother
in July 2006 before undergoing surgery. The health of Fidel Castro,
is considered a state secret in Cuba.
Spanish daily El Pais reported earlier this month that the elder
Castro was in 'very serious' condition following at least three
failed operations.
Castro's health had deteriorated following complications from an
intestinal infection, the daily said, citing medical sources from the
Gregorio Maranon hospital in Madrid.
The hospital employs Spanish top surgeon Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido,
who has been treating Castro, but El Pais did not name its sources.
Doctor Sabrido flew to Cuba in December. He denied reports
claiming that Castro suffered from cancer.
The Cuban leader has not been seen in public since last July, and
in December missed a massive military parade in Havana marking 50
years since his return from exile.
In his New Year message, Castro said he was recovering slowly from
the surgery, but added it would be a 'long process.'
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
USA
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