Castro warns country his health still at risk

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, August 13, 2006

HAVANA – Fidel Castro sent Cubans a sober greeting on his 80th birthday Sunday, saying he faces a long recovery from surgery – and warning they should be prepared for “adverse news.” But he encouraged them to be optimistic, saying Cuba “will continue marching on perfectly well.”

As a newspaper printed the first pictures of Castro since his illness, his younger brother, Raul, made his first public appearance as Cuba’s acting president. State TV showed him at the airport greeting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on his arrival to celebrate Fidel Castro’s birthday.

Castro, who underwent surgery for an unspecified intestinal ailment that forced him to step aside as president July 31, said in a statement that his health had improved, but stressed he still faced risks.

“To affirm that the recovery period will take a short time and that there is no risk would be absolutely incorrect,” said the statement in the Communist Youth newspaper, Juventud Rebelde. “I ask you all to be optimistic, and at the same time to be ready to face any adverse news.”

Juventud Rebelde also published four photographs of Castro, one them with him holding a Communist Party newspaper that was published Saturday.