a small dose of reality

Government tight-lipped over Castro; Cubans edgy - a fashion statement?

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba's government stayed tight-lipped over ailing leader Fidel Castro on Wednesday, keeping nervous Cubans waiting for fresh word on his condition and for the brother to whom he handed power to appear in public. 

State-run media repeated a message from the previous night quoting the 79-year-old president, who stepped aside temporarily on Monday, saying his health was stable but that a verdict on his recovery from stomach surgery would take "many days." 

There was a small increase in police presence in poorer parts of Havana and communist neighbourhood groups said that "rapid response groups" used to put down riots in the past had been activated. 

Some Cubans with relatives in the security forces said military and other uniformed personnel had been mobilized in barracks and police stations as a precaution. 

"Our guns are oiled," said one neighbourhood organizer, Rolando Gomez, 75, in Havana's decaying downtown. The committees are usually unarmed. 

"We're putting the people's war into practice," he said. 

Castro has not been seen in public since July 26 and the scant information about his condition has sparked rumours among exiles in the United States that he could be dead or merely running a "dress rehearsal" for his succession. 

His defence minister brother Raul, 75, has not appeared in public since Castro handed him the reins of the ruling Communist Party, the post of commander in chief of the armed forces and president of the executive council of state. 

Castro's latest statement said he could give few details on his health due to the threat to Cuba from the U.S. "empire".