HAVANA, Aug 7: Leftist intellectuals and human rights activists from around the world pleaded with the United States in an open letter on Monday not to interfere with Cuba while Fidel Castro recovers from intestinal surgery.

Many of the 400 letter signers are from Latin America, and numerous Nobel Peace laureates are listed, such as former Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and activist Rigoberta Menchu of Guatemala.

Announcing the letter at a news conference in Havana, leading Cuban writer Roberto Fernandez Retamar said Cubans are convinced that Fidel Castro’s handover of power to his younger brother and defence minister Raul Castro is only temporary.

“In a few months we’ll have him back with us,” said Retamar.

That optimistic assessment has been reinforced by a flurry of statements from Castro’s inner circle and Latin American allies, who say the Cuban leader is recovering well from surgery to repair internal bleeding.

Cubans were told most details of his health would be kept ‘a state secret’ to prevent the island’s enemies from taking advantage of his condition. Indeed, officials haven’t said precisely what ails Castro or what surgical procedure he underwent.

President George Bush said on Monday the United States remains in the dark about Castro’s illness, but he didn’t miss the chance to motivate anti-Castro activists to push for change on the island.

“The only thing I know is what has been speculated, and this is that, on the one hand, he is very ill and, on the other hand, he is going to be coming out of hospital,” Mr Bush said at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. “Our desire is for the Cuban people to choose their own form of government.”

A similar message was sent by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday _ she denied that the United States is contemplating an invasion of the island in the wake of Castro’s illness, but said the US wants to help Cubans prepare for democracy.

“The notion that somehow the United States is going to invade Cuba, because there are troubles in Cuba, is simply far-fetched,” Ms 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.”—AP