Cuban Leader Castro Says He is Recovering

World | May 24, 2007, Thursday // 00:00

Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro discussed details of his recent health problems for the first time Wednesday and broke the silence he had maintained for the past few months in an article.

In the written message he told his countrymen he underwent several operations, some of which were unsuccessful, but that his condition has now stabilized.

He said he now feels better and has gained weight although he does not mention a possible date for a comeback to power.

"It wasn't just one surgery but several. Initially there was no success and that influenced a long recovery," explained Castro, whose health had been declared a state secret after he delegated powers to his brother Raul almost 10 months ago.

"For many months I depended on catheters," he wrote in a new article, his 10th so far, that the Cuban press published Thursday.

In the message, Castro also explained his lack of public appearances since his illness, saying that such appearances require him to get haircuts and shaves that he does not have time for.

Castro said his prolonged recovery from the surgeries was due to the fact that the first operations he underwent were not successful. He also disclosed that during his illness, he received nutrition intravenously, although he said he is no longer doing so.

On July 31, Castro, 80, relinquished his presidential powers to his brother, Raul, after undergoing intestinal surgery, calling the move temporary. The switch touched off a flurry of speculation that the Communist leader, who came to power in 1959, might be dying of cancer.

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