U.S. & World News

HAVANA (CBS News) ― Fidel Castro said Tuesday that his health was stable after surgery, according to a statement read on state television, as the Communist government tried to impose a sense of normalcy on the island's first day in 47 years without Castro in charge.

Castro, who temporarily handed power to his younger brother Raul on Monday night after undergoing intestinal surgery, indicated the surgery was serious when he said: "I can not make up positive news."

But he said his health was "stable," and "as for my spirits, I feel perfectly fine," according to the statement read by moderator Randy Alonso on a daily public affairs program.

Castro expressed his gratitude for the good wishes he received from leaders and supporters around the world, and called on Cubans to remain calm and maintain their daily routines.

"The country is prepared for its defense," he said in the statement. "Everyone needs to struggle, and work."

A senior Cuban official, dismissing suspicions among anti-Castro exiles that the Cuban leader was dead, said the president's "final moment is still very far away."

Raul Castro was nowhere to be seen as Cubans began to worry about what comes next and exiles in Miami celebrated a development they hoped signaled the death of a dictator. Cuban dissidents kept a low profile while watching for signs of Castro's condition.

CBS News national correspondent Byron Pitts reports that Raul Castro lacks his brothers charisma, but his resume is equally ruthless. He has long been in charge of internal security, and his commitment to Communism is just as deep.

"Everything's normal here — for the moment," said hospital worker Emilio Garcia, 41, waiting for a friend at a Havana hotel. "But we've never experienced this before — it's like a small test of how things could be without Fidel."

The main newscast on state-run TV gave no details of the 79-year-old leader's condition, but ran a string of man-on-the-street interviews with Cubans wishing him well and professing confidence in the revolution's staying power. The anchor said Castro had the people's "unconditional support."

It was unknown when or where the surgery took place or where Castro was recovering. But the Venezuelan government, Cuba's closest ally, said Cuban officials reported Castro was "advancing positively." Leftist Argentine lawmaker Miguel Bonasso said Castro aides told him the leader was resting peacefully.

For dissidents such as Miriam Leyva, these are uneasy times, Pitts reports.

"There could be two possibilities," she said. "One that they could keep on governing and bring about some changes and this society could go to a Democratic path, or that there could be an uprising of the people ... if they don't bring about at least economic measures."

The announcement that Castro had been operated on to repair a "sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding" stunned Cubans on the island and in exile, CBS News producer Portia Siegelbaum reports, and marked the first time that Castro, two weeks away from 80th birthday, had relinquished power.

People went about their business as normal on the streets of Havana early Tuesday. Some government work centers called workers to participate in outdoor political gatherings later Tuesday to express their support for Fidel Castro.

The news came Monday night in a statement read on state television by his secretary, Carlos Valenciaga. The message said Castro's condition was apparently due to stress from a heavy work schedule during recent trips to Argentina and eastern Cuba.

In the letter, Castro, who turns 80 on Aug. 13, said doctors operated to repair a "sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding." Neither Castro brother was shown.

Siegelbaum reports that Castro, saying the Communist Party must stand firm to defend the revolution, also turned over his functions in the area of health care and education and as head of the national energy program to other Communist party and government figures.

Castro had been seen frequently in recent days, delivering speeches in eastern Cuba during a revolutionary holiday and making waves at a trade summit in Argentina. Those back-to-back trips and the resulting stress "ruined" his health, according to his letter.

"It's so surprising, because in Argentina he gave off such a strong political image and looked quite vital," said Rafael Marti, a businessman from Spain visiting Cuba with his wife. He said he didn't expect rapid change on the island 90 miles south of Florida.

Dissidents said they expected the government to be on the defensive, with a high security presence and a low tolerance for political acts.

"It's clear that this is the start of the transition," said activist Manuel Cuesta Morua. "This gives Cuba the opportunity to have a more rational leadership" because top leaders will be forced to work together rather than following one man.

Government work centers brought employees together for small rallies throughout Havana.

"For this man, we must give our life," a customs worker told a crowd waving Cuban flags and shouting "Long live Fidel!"

Elsewhere, it looked like a regular day in Havana, with people packed into buses and standing in line outside stores.

Across the Florida straits in Miami, where hundreds of thousands of fleeing Cubans have settled, boisterous celebrations Monday night gave way to speculation about what would happen in Cuba when Castro dies. Car horns still blared, but some cautioned the celebrations may have been premature.

Many Cubans on the island thought the Miami celebrations were in poor taste.

"We aren't going to celebrate someone's illness," said a waitress who wouldn't give her name.

Also, some cold warriors like Jose Basulto, a founder of the "brothers to the rescue" flights that helped scores of migrants flee Cuba, have all but given up the fight to return to Cuba, CBS News correspondent Jim Acosta reports.

"I think the jubilation is unwarranted because there is not really going to be a big change," Basulto said.

In Washington, the State Department said it would support a democratic transition in Cuba. Spokesman Sean McCormack said the Cuban people are weary of communist rule and eager to choose a new form of government.

"We believe that the Cuban people aspire and thirst for democracy and that given the choice they would choose a democratic government," he said.

Castro, who took control of Cuba in 1959, has resisted repeated U.S. attempts to oust him as well as demands for multiparty elections and an open economy. He has survived communism's demise elsewhere and repeatedly insisted his socialist system would long outlive him.

Doctors in the United States said Castro's condition could be life-threatening but since the details of his symptoms were not released it was hard to say what caused the bleeding: severe ulcers, a colon condition called diverticulosis or — an outside possibility — cancer.

Castro seemed optimistic of recovery, asking in his letter that celebrations scheduled for his 80th birthday be postponed until Dec. 2, the 50th anniversary of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.

The leaders of China, Venezuela, Bolivia and Mexico wished Castro well.

Castro has been in power since the Jan. 1, 1959, triumph of the armed revolution that drove out dictator Fulgencio Batista. He has been the world's longest-ruling head of government, and his ironclad rule has ensured Cuba's place among the world's five remaining communist countries, along with China, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea.

Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla. and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., both born in Cuba, said they expect U.S. action for now will be limited to transmitting radio messages of hope to the Cuban people and preventing an influx of illegal immigrants from the island.

Talk of Castro's mortality was taboo until June 23, 2001, when he fainted during a speech in the sun. Although Castro quickly recovered, many Cubans understood for the first time that their leader would eventually die.

Castro shattered a kneecap and broke an arm when he fell after a speech on Oct. 20, 2004, but laughed off rumors about his health, most recently a 2005 report he had Parkinson's disease.

(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)