MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Castro says his health is stable following stomach surgery

Cuba's President Fidel Castro declared himself to be in good spirits and stable condition following stomach surgery.

"I can say it is a stable condition," the 79-year-old said in a statement read out on state television on Tuesday. He did not appear. "I am in perfectly good spirits."

On Monday night, Castro startled his country when he announced he was temporarily relinquishing his leadership powers to his brother Raul. Fidel had underwent surgery to stop intestinal bleeding.

Earlier, a senior Cuban official said Fidel was "very far away" from death -- despite speculation to the contrary from Castro opponents in the Unite States.

Speaker of Parliament Ricardo Alarcon told a governmental news service that Castro is known for fighting to the very end but said that his "final moment is still very far away."

Venezuela's government said Castro's recovery was "advancing positively", citing information from the island's government without providing details.

Castro, who turns 80 on Aug. 13, had his celebration postponed from Aug. 13 to Dec. 2 -- the date of the 50th anniversary of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.

Cuban citizens buttonholed by foreign reporters expressed the hope that Castro would recover.

One party official said Fidel had given his life to keep the revolution alive.

Castro had served as Cuba's leader ever since the 1959 revolution that brought him to power. This makes him the world's longest-serving leader. He's outlasted nine U.S. presidents in that time.

"This is the first time he's ceded power to anybody," Cuban affairs analyst Professor John Kirk of Dalhousie University in Halifax.

He said if Castro can't return to office, Raul would form a transition government within a socialist protest.

"According to the Cuban constitution, he is the first vice-president of the country and he's also the second secretary of the communist party -- that gives him the power to take over should Fidel Castro not be capacitated to rule."

However, there are some cabinet ministers who could assume leadership roles, he said.