Cuba says Castro is stable, on the mend

MIAMI - Cuban President Fidel Castro is in stable condition and recovering from surgery to stop intestinal bleeding, Cuban officials said Tuesday, but they issued no fresh photos of the 79-year-old dictator and provided little new information about his illness.

A statement attributed to Castro and read on an evening program in Havana suggested that physicians were uncertain about his prognosis.

"I cannot invent good news," the statement said. "And if the news were bad, the only one to benefit is the enemy."

"The most I could say is that the situation will remain stable for many days before a verdict can be delivered," the statement said.

The lack of detail left room for speculation about whether Castro, who turns 80 on Aug. 13, will recover or whether Cuba might be on the cusp of change after 47 years of one-man rule.

Cuba's Parliament Speaker Ricardo Alarcon said the "final moment is still very far away."

Alarcon, however, also described the surgery as a "delicate operation," and the sketchy information prompted some to consider alternatives. U.S. officials, however, said they believe Castro is still alive.

Castro's brother and the inheritor of his power, Raul, 75, remained out of sight amid reports of unusual troops movements in Havana and on the eastern end of island. Most residents of the capital appeared to be going about their daily business normally.

Cuba had announced Castro's surgery on Monday night in an uncharacteristically detailed announcement, saying he was suffering from "sustained" intestinal bleeding and was ceding power to Raul. But there was no further news until Tuesday evening's Round Table news program, where the Castro statement was read.

Specialists in the United States said the symptoms could describe cancer, peptic ulcers or a variety of other problems.

In Washington, White House spokesman Tony Snow said that the transfer of power to Raul Castro would make no difference in U.S. hostility toward the island's government.

"There are no plans to reach out," he said, calling Castro's brother his "prison keeper."

In South Florida, where nearly 1 million Cuban exiles live, there was frustration at the unsettled news from their former home.

Others were defiant and urged dissidents in Cuba to take to the streets to protest Raul's ascension to power.

"I hope to God he's dead," said Jose (Pepe) Diaz, a Cuban exile and Miami-Dade County commissioner. "But I think he might still be alive. Either way, this will be the start of the demise of the regime."

Said Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., whose aunt was once married to Castro: "It's time for the military not to shoot" at those who mount peaceful protests."

Get-well messages poured in to Havana from around the world. Some came from the governments of Spain, Italy, Nicaragua, and from Presidents Evo Morales of Bolivia and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, both close to Castro.

Angela McArdle, a spokeswoman at the U.S. Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, said the agency had taken no steps to put into motion contingency plans to deal with any mass movement of people across the Florida Straits.

Florida and federal authorities said they'd block any efforts to reach Cuba by boat.

In Cuba, government opponents in the eastern city of Guantanamo said armed forces units were seen rounding up reservists as state security agents paid unfriendly visits to dissidents.

"There is a terrible silence outside," Guantanamo dissident Mariela Castro Fernandez said in a telephone interview.

Everything normal

In Havana, the government tried hard to project an air of normalcy. Government work centers brought employees together for small rallies throughout the capital. The two-humped buses known as "camels" were packed, as usual, and 50-year-old Fords chugged along busy streets, residents reported.

Travelers arriving at Miami International Airport reported seeing increased military presence around the capital.

Reports of an increased military presence also came from Cuba's eastern provinces, which have played critical roles in many of Cuba's wars and surround the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay.

But most Cubans contacted Tuesday said they didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.