Photographs Show Castro Alive, But He Warns of Long Recovery

The first photographs of Fidel Castro after his stomach surgery were published in Cuba yesterday, alongside a statement from the leader warning that he faced a long recovery.

Amid mounting speculation about Mr Castro's health, the US announced a policy on Cuban immigration at the weekend, including easier access to the US for doctors who defect, the fast-tracking of family visas and the refusal of visas to human rights violators.

The photographs, published on Mr Castro's 80th birthday online by the youth daily, juventudrebelde.cu, were the first hard evidence that he is still alive, after he handed over power to his brother, Raúl, at the end of July. He was reported to have undergone intestinal surgery.

Mr Castro appears in a sweatshirt talking on the phone in the photographs, which include shots of him reading the Saturday edition of the Communist party newspaper, Granma, in an apparent attempt to show that they were not out of date.

The leader was quoted in an accompanying statement as saying he faced a long recovery from surgery and advising Cubans to prepare for "adverse news", while urging them to stay optimistic.

"To say that the objective stability has considerably improved is not making up a lie. To affirm that the recovery period will take a short time and that there is no risk would be absolutely incorrect. I ask you all to be optimistic, and at the same time to be ready to face any adverse news."

Granma said the Cuban president was walking, talking and even working a bit again. Juventud Rebelde also published a handwritten note apparently written by Mr Castro to five Cuban men convicted in the US of working there as unregistered foreign agents. Last week they were denied a new trial by a federal appeal court.

"Rene, Antonio, Gerardo, Fernando, Ramon: We will triumph over the monstrous injustice!" read the note in Mr Castro's typical scrawl. It was signed: "Fidel. August 13 2006 12.39am."

The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, said on Saturday that he would be visiting the Cuban leader to wish him a happy birthday.

The Bush administration said at the weekend that its new immigration rules had been in the pipeline for months and had nothing to do with the drama about Mr Castro's health.

But a government official warned of the dangers of a chaotic exodus from the island. The deputy secretary for homeland security, Michael Jackson, said in a written statement: "We urge the Cuban people to stay on the island so that they may work for their freedom and a democratic society ... We discourage anyone from risking their life in the open seas in order to travel to the US."

The announcement of the new immigration rules was made in two statements issued in Washington. They were the first big revision of immigration policy since 1994, when migration accords were agreed between the island and the superpower to try to end an exodus by raft.

Many Cuban-Americans welcomed the announcements, in particular the move to facilitate the movement of doctors and other health professionals.