Raul Castro: Brother Fidel getting better

Raul Castro: Brother Fidel getting better

Friday, August 18, 2006 Posted: 1248 GMT (2048 HKT)

HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) -- Cuban President Fidel Castro is recovering
gradually, Raul Castro said in an interview published Friday, his first
public remarks since his ailing older brother temporarily handed him
power last month.

Raul Castro, 75, thanked the doctors and others who have attended his
brother "with an unsurpassable professionalism and, above all, with much
love and dedication.

"This has been a very important factor in Fidel's progressive recovery,"
he said in an interview published Friday in the Communist Party
newspaper Granma.

Cuba's government announced on July 31 that Fidel Castro, who turned 80
on Sunday, underwent surgery for intestinal bleeding and delegated
government functions provisionally to his brother Raul, head of the
Cuban armed forces and his designated successor.

The appointment sparked speculation that Fidel Castro's 47-year rule on
the island just 90 miles (145 kilometers) from Florida might be ending.

Neither Raul nor Fidel Castro appeared in public until Sunday when Raul
was on state television. Video images of Fidel were released a day
later. (Watch Venezuela's Hugo Chavez comfort and cheer his Cuban
counterpart -- 1:05))

"As a point of fact, I am not used to making frequent appearances in
public, except at times when it is required," Raul Castro said in the
Granma interview.

He said he was not concerned with "those in other countries who
entertain themselves by speculating about if I am going to appear on
television or in the papers or not."

He said many of his activities as defense minister were best kept
private. "Moreover, I have always been discreet, that is my way, and in
passing I will clarify that I am thinking of continuing in that way."

Castro said he was gratified by the support expressed from around the
world, and expressed scorn for those who had expected chaos in Cuba.

"Absolute tranquillity is reigning in the country," he said.

Cuba mobilized its defense forces in the hours after Castro's illness
and handover of power were announced, Raul Castro said.

"We could not rule out the risk of somebody going crazy, or even
crazier, within the U.S. government," he said.

At dawn on August 1, Raul Castro said he raised Cuba's combat level and
mobilized tens of thousands of reservists and militia members, and
informed the country's main fighting units of the political and military
situation.

Raul Castro said he did not want to exaggerate the dangers of U.S.
intervention faced by Cuba.

"So far the attacks have only been rhetorical, with the exception of the
substantial increase in subversive radio and television broadcasts
against Cuba," he said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/08/18/castro.cuba.reut/index.html