'Insect bite' keeps Castro in bed

" I have sworn never to scratch a bite again "
Fidel Castro letter

In a letter published on the front page of Cuba's state-run newspapers, the 76-year-old leader reassured Cubans he was well and recovering from what he described as a "ridiculous and inopportune incident".

"I am well, dear compatriots, and I feel more optimistic than ever about the future of the revolution," he said.

Last Saturday, due to the illness, the Cuban leader missed the opening session of Cuba's National Assembly for the first time in 25 years.

Last year, Mr Castro fainted while delivering a speech and speculation has been growing about his health each time he disappears from the public.

Never again

Mr Castro said he had developed lymphangitis - the spread of bacteria to the bloodstream that can be life-threatening - from a staphylococcal infection of the skin of his left leg.

"The lesion finally became the beginnings of lymphangitis, but rest and medication have reduced it almost to zero," he said.

" I feel more optimistic than ever about the future of the revolution "
Fidel Castro letter

"The three or four days that they [the doctors] promised me have extended to more than a week," he said.

But, he went on: "It was my duty to protect my dear left leg. With her I played many sports, played soccer, ran, jumped, swam, climbed, covered thousands of kilometres in the Sierra Maestra.

"It was my guide leg in politics. It never failed me. I could not possibly betray her now."

Mr Castro said he now considered mosquitoes and other dangerous insects "my enemies. I have sworn never to scratch a bite again."

He said the forced respite had allowed him to keep abreast of the affairs of state by phone and by watching television, while reading and sleeping more than usual.

"I will remember it with the same gratitude I remember my 22 months in prison after the Moncada [an unsuccessful attempt to topple the regime of Fulgencio Batista in 1953].

"I have never read so much and been so much in control of my time as in those days," he added.

On 1 January, Mr Castro completes 44 years in power.

After fainting in June 2001, the Cuban leader went on to hint at a Cuba without him. He said the Cuban revolution had not built by one man, but by millions of Cubans who would defend it until the last drop of blood.

But since then, both his supporters on the Caribbean island and his enemies in the United States have been watching him closely.