Cuba: Castro to return in a few weeks

Aug. 7, 2006, 5:20AM
Cuba: Castro to return 'in a few weeks'

By ANITA SNOW Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

HAVANA — Cuba's vice president and Venezuela's leader gave optimistic
assessments of Fidel Castro's health, saying the Cuban president was
recovering quickly from intestinal surgery and could be expected back at
work within a few weeks.

Castro has been out of sight since July 31, when his secretary announced
he had undergone surgery and was temporarily ceding power to his younger
brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro.

"In a few weeks he'll be recovered and he'll return to his duties," Vice
President Carlos Lage said Sunday when asked by reporters when Castro
would be back at work. Lage spoke in Bolivia, where he attended the
Andean country's constitutional convention.

Castro's return would expose a U.S. policy of "lies" behind speculation
that he would not recover from the operation, Lage said.

Cubans were told most details of Castro's health would be kept a state
secret to prevent the island's enemies from taking advantage of his
condition. Indeed, officials have failed to say what precisely is ailing
Castro or what surgical procedure he underwent.

Lage earlier shot down reports that Castro had stomach cancer.

"The operation that he underwent was successful and he is recovering
favorably," he said Sunday. "Fidel's going to be around for another 80
years."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Castro, who turns 80 next Sunday,
was out of bed and talking following his surgery.

"How are you, Fidel?" Chavez said during his weekly TV and radio
program, suggesting he believed the Cuban leader was watching. "We have
reliable information of your quick and notable recuperation."

"Fidel Castro, a hug for you, friend and comrade, and I know you are
getting better," he added.

Speaking by phone with Bolivian President Evo Morales later during the
program, Chavez said Castro was bouncing back quickly.

"This morning I learned that he's very well, that he is already getting
out of bed, he's talking more than he should _ because he talks a lot,
you know. He has sent us greetings," Chavez said.

Morales, a leftist elected in December as Bolivia's first Indian
president, said he was glad to learn of Castro's recovery and that
"what's left is for him to be incorporated into the battle of his
country" again. Morales said Castro was like an "older brother."

Get-well wishes poured in from leftists across the hemisphere.

Former Nicaraguan President and Sandinista revolution leader Daniel
Ortega arrived in Havana late Saturday. "I am sure that we will soon
have Fidel resuming his functions and leading his people," Ortega said.

Colombia's largest rebel group also expressed its solidarity with the
Cuban leader. "We hope you'll recover in the shortest time possible,"
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia said in a statement.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday the United States wanted
to help Cubans prepare for democracy but was not contemplating an
invasion of the island in the wake of Castro's illness.

"The notion that somehow the United States is going to invade Cuba,
because there are troubles in Cuba, is simply far-fetched," Rice told
NBC News. "The United States wants to be a partner and a friend to the
Cuban people as they move through this period of difficulty and as they
move ahead. But what Cuba should not have is the replacement of one
dictator by another."

Cuban authorities have beefed up security by mobilizing citizen defense
militias, increasing street patrols and ordering decommissioned military
officers to check in daily.

Roman Catholic Cardinal Jaime Ortega, the island's top churchman, called
on parishioners Sunday to pray for Castro's health, peace on the island
and fraternity among all Cubans, both here and abroad.

"We pray for the fatherland, for Cuba, and those who are leading it,"
Ortega told reporters after Sunday Mass at the cathedral in Old Havana.

Outside another church, a group of political prisoners' wives known as
the Ladies in White held their weekly silent march without interruption
by authorities.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4098736.html