Chavez says Castro is out of bed, talking

HAVANA -- Cuba's vice president said Sunday Fidel Castro would return to work in a few weeks after intestinal surgery that forced him to hand over power temporarily to his younger brother.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Castro was out of bed and talking following his surgery.

Vice President Carlos Lage, in Bolivia to attend the country's constitutional assembly, was asked by reporters when Castro would be back at work.

"In a few weeks," he replied.

Cuban officials have provided no details and released no pictures of Castro since his surgery was announced last Monday -- fueling speculation around the world about his condition. His brother Raul Castro, the defense minister, also has not been seen in public since the announcement.

Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage on Saturday denied reports that Castro had stomach cancer and said the Cuban leader has "been made well by the operation and is recuperating favorably."

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday the United States wants to help Cubans prepare for democracy but is not contemplating an invasion of the island in the wake of Castro's illness.

"The notion that somehow the United States is going to invade Cuba, because there are troubles in Cuba, is simply far-fetched," Rice told NBC television. "The United States wants to be a partner and a friend to the Cuban people as they move through this period of difficulty and as they move ahead. But what Cuba should not have is the replacement of one dictator by another."

Cuban authorities have beefed up security by mobilizing citizen defense militias, increasing street patrols, and ordering decommissioned military officers to check in at posts daily.

Roman Catholic Cardinal Jaime Ortega, the island's top churchman, called on parishioners Sunday to pray for the Castro's health, peace on the island, and fraternity among all Cubans, both here and abroad.

"We pray for the fatherland, for Cuba, and those who are leading it," Ortega told reporters in brief comments after his regular Sunday Mass at the cathedral in Old Havana.

Outside another church, a group of political prisoners' wives known as the Ladies in White held their weekly silent march after Sunday Mass without interruption by authorities.