HAVANA — Fidel Castro said Friday he helped choose candidates for Cuba's new government, but he asserted that his brother Raul is fully in charge as the new president.

In his first comments since his brother assumed the presidency last weekend, the elder Castro appeared to be trying to quash speculation that he would continue directing his brother — and the nation's affairs — from his sickbed.

In an essay published in the Communist Party newspaper Granma, Fidel Castro described his role in selecting the governing body his brother now heads as president. But he did not mention involvement in any decision-making since Raul assumed permanent power.

Raul Castro has "all legal and constitutional faculties and prerogatives" to lead Cuba, Fidel Castro wrote.

The elder Castro said both he and his brother were consulted when the parliament's nominating committee came up with the candidates for the Council of State, Cuba's supreme governing authority, elected by the new parliament on Sunday.

"That's not because I demanded to be consulted; it was the decision of Raul and of the principal leaders of the country to consult me," he wrote.

He also said he personally chose two more key generals for inclusion on the council, a move some interpreted as an attempt by Raul to pack the body with military allies. "This was not the fruit of Raul's supposed militaristic tendencies," Fidel Castro wrote.

On Sunday, Raul requested and received permission from lawmakers to consult with Fidel on "the decisions of special transcendence for the future of our nation" especially those involving "defense, foreign policy and socioeconomic development."

The dreams of Cuban exiles and others who hoped that Cuba's Communist state would collapse have been frustrated, the elder Castro wrote. "For many, our country was a steam-filled cauldron about to burst."