HAVANA – Fidel Castro said Tuesday that he was stable and in good spirits after surgery, according to a statement read on state television, as the Communist government tried to impose a sense of normalcy on the island’s first day in 47 years without the bearded leader in charge.
Castro, who temporarily handed power to his younger brother Raul on Monday night after undergoing intestinal surgery, indicated the operation was serious when he said: “I can not make up positive news.”
But he said his health was “stable,” and “as for my spirits, I feel perfectly fine,” according to the statement read. He said it would take some time for doctors “to provide a verdict” on his recovery.
Castro apologized for not giving more details, but said the threat posed to his government by the United States means his health must be treated as “a state secret.”
Raul Castro, the island’s acting president, who turned 75 in June, was nowhere to be seen Tuesday. He has been his brother’s constitutional successor for decades and has assumed a more public profile in recent weeks.
“Everything’s normal here, for the moment,” said hospital worker Emilio Garcia, 41, waiting for a friend at a Havana hotel. “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 the 79-year-old leader was recovering.
Doctors in the United States said Castro’s condition could be life-threatening, but since the details of his symptoms were not released it was hard to say what caused the bleeding: severe ulcers, a colon condition called diverticulosis or an outside possibility: cancer.
Castro seemed optimistic of recovery, asking in his letter that celebrations scheduled for his 80th birthday on Aug. 13 be postponed until Dec. 2, the 50th anniversary of Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces.
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