HAVANA, (AFP) - Cuban President Fidel Castro announced in an open letter that he underwent surgery after he fell late Wednesday and fractured his left knee and his right arm.
Castro's operation took three hours, after which he was put in a plaster cast. He said he refused to undergo general anesthesia because he did not want to abandon his government responsibilities due to a temporary physical mishap.
Castro, 78, tripped and fell as he walked down some steps from a stage after giving an hour-long speech at a graduation ceremony. The incident was shown live on Cuban television.
Castro's 1,183 word letter meticulously describes the moment he fell, his ambulance trip to the hospital, and details of the operation.
"Nobody could be blamed. It was absolutely my responsibility. Apparently, the strong emotions of that day, full of creativity and symbolisms, explain my carelessness," Castro wrote.
The Cuban leader stumbled as he descended the steps and fell on his side following a speech before graduates of an art school in Santa Clara, 280 kilometers (175 miles) east of Havana. The audience gasped and was stunned into silence.
But he quickly got up with the help of bodyguards and, sitting on a chair, hastened to assure the audience he remained in control.
Before his fall Castro had visited the mausoleum of former comrade Ernesto Che Guevara, who was killed in Bolivia in 1967 as he was trying to foment a revolutionary uprising.
"Given the current circumstances," Castro wrote, "it was necessary to avoid general anesthesia to be in conditions to attend numerous important affairs" of government.
During the operation "he remained in contact with the head of his office" to continue working," Castro said, writing in third person.
Castro "continued receiving information and giving instructions on the management of the situation created" by the accident, the letter read.
Castro has said he has no plans of taking a break or leaving office due to the accident.
10/22/2004 - 04:43 GMT - AFP