Cuban dissident speaks out as Castro awaits recovery 'verdict'

As Cubans await clues as to whether Fidel Castro's unprecedented handover of power is to be permanent or temporary, one of the country's few outspoken dissidents has renewed his call for political change.

A new statement from Mr Castro, delivered on state-controlled television, said he was stable but also introduced an element of doubt as to how rapid a recovery he might make. Mr Castro, who did not appear on screen, added: "I am in perfectly good spirits. The most I can say is that the situation will remain stable during many days before a verdict can be given."

There is no evidence that the few domestic critics of Mr Castro who remain at large are seeking to take advantage of his condition, but Oswaldo Paya, 54, a democracy campaigner, repeated his vow to fight for change.

Mr Paya is the rarest of things. He is a dissident in a country that represses dissent and he speaks out when few dare to whisper. He says he and his family are harassed by the authorities and yet he knows worse could happen at any time: in 2003, 75 human rights activists were jailed, among them two dozen members of his fledgling democracy group, the Varela Project. Most were jailed for more than 20 years.

"We don't know how [the security police] work. We live in fear," he told The Independent. "I live in God's hands with my family. The government can put me in jail at any time but I am not going to stand down."

While Mr Paya speaks out, most dissent here comes in the form of furtive, snatched conversations. In one tatty Old Havana bar an afternoon drinker leant forward as he predicted there would be a civil war if Raul Castro were to permanently succeed his ailing brother. "The ordinary people do not like him, nor the middle class. It is just the military," he said.

Another man, hustling tourists to eat at a restaurant, scoffed when asked if there was an alternative to the Communist Party. He added: "There is much repression. The police... very strong repression."

Mr Paya may draw some protection from his international profile - in 2002 the EU awarded him the Sakharov prize for freedom of thought - but also from the fact that unlike some dissidents he refuses US aid and opposes its economic embargo. Some hard-line Cuban-American groups in Miami reject him because of this stance.

"We have to find solutions among the Cuban people. That is why we are promoting dialogue," he said. "We give documents to people and they give us their opinions." The feed-back, he said, indicated people wanted to retain free social services but also establish a capitalist economy with private businesses.

"A private economy with a grand social vision, with true democracy, freedom of expression, human rights."

When it was suggested that in terms of health care and education, Cubans had it better than most people in the Caribbean and Latin America - Cuba's infant mortality rate is less than in the US - he replied: "A lot of people in Europe think, 'If the Cuban people have free [health care and education] why would they want civil and political rights, human rights?'. This is a racist idea."

Last year Amnesty issued a report detailing prisoners who were jailed for political beliefs. It also warned that dissidents were being sacked from state jobs. But Mr Paya, a medical engineer, said he would fight on.