Castro writes first article post surgery

HAVANA: Cuba’s Fidel Castro published his first article since his July surgery on Thursday, signing his name to a scathing article on US biofuel plans for Thursday’s edition of the Communist Party newspaper Granma.

The article — e-mailed to the media in the early hours of Thursday and later posted on Granma’s web site — said nothing about Castro’s state of health, but signaled that the convalescing leader is following world affairs closely.

In Thursday’s article, Castro said more than 3 billion people in the world were condemned to die prematurely of hunger or thirst from plans by his ideological foe, the United States, to convert foodstuffs like corn into fuel for cars. “This is not an exaggerated figure, it’s more likely cautious,” Castro wrote.

It was the latest indication that Castro has no plans to retire from the limelight. Castro has yet to reappear in public, however, having only been seen in photographs and video recordings or heard on the radio since his surgery.