Fidel Castro gives no sign in TV chat of plan to return to power
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| Published on Thursday, June 7, 2007 |
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By Isabel Sanchez
HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): A healthier-looking Fidel Castro hinted that his recovery is still incomplete in his first interview in 10 months, and gave no sign of any plan to retake Cuba's reins of power.
"All I can tell my fellow countrymen is what I've already said, that I'm now doing what I have to do, nothing else. There's no secret. I can't put it more clearly," said Castro, 80, who underwent surgery in July last year.
Seeming relaxed and appearing to have regained weight lost after intestinal surgery, Castro, in a red-white-and-blue tracksuit, told an interviewer in the chat aired Tuesday on state television: "A human being's health is always facing threats, lurking dangers, but we've been doing all the things that needed to be done."
"I'm dressed like a football (soccer) player," Castro also joked.
He has been recovering at an undisclosed location since he underwent gastrointestinal surgery and handed over power to his brother Raul on July 31. Cuban authorities for months described the handover as temporary, and lately have not addressed what may lie ahead for Fidel Castro.
Wednesday Raul Castro, now 76, joked in Boca de Jaruco, Cuba, that Fidel looked "fantastic," and "so now I should start to work less."
The veteran leader, who turns 81 in August, said his health was being monitored closely, even by the United States. "They can check out anybody coming into the house with their satellites," Castro said.
"There's no state secret," he insisted, adding that he was eating "a much more balanced" diet.
Since his surgery rumors have circulated about his potential return to power, and speculation has mounted about Cuba's possible transition to a more open society, in the Americas' only one-party communist country.
Earlier this week, official media said Castro's interview would offer "other issues of interest," fueling speculation that he could announce his return to power.
But Castro left unanswered the question on the mind of every Cuban, including exiles in Florida, by not explicitly announcing his own detailed plans for his future, and letting doubts remain as to his plans.
Some Cubans, however, saw his appearance as a sign that Fidel Castro was getting back to his old self.
"Ave Maria! He looks good. He's stronger and livelier," said Merida Noa, 79, who watched the 52-minute interview with her sister Sinesia, 83, in Old Havana.
"We hadn't seen him like this since the crisis began," she said. "Now we can say that the Comandante is going to be around for a while."
The pre-recorded interview with "Roundtable" anchorman Randy Alonso, Castro's first since he dropped from public view, dealt mainly with the hospital visit last weekend by Vietnamese Communist Party leader Nong Duc Manh.
Castro also spoke about energy conservation, an issue close to his heart, and his recently acquired habit of writing editorials, which along with television interviews, "is one way of expressing oneself, in depth or in brief."
Castro, who has not appeared in public since July last year, has only been seen in photographs and short videos and heard on the radio.
Then from March 29, he started a busy stretch of editorial writing, lest anyone think the famously loquacious revolutionary already had one foot in the grave.
On May 24, he suggested he would not be appearing physically in the media often.
But in the new television interview, Castro said writing editorials and appearing on television shows gave him "satisfaction."
Many analysts believe that as his health improves Fidel Castro will continue focusing on the international agenda while his brother Raul manages the domestic front.
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