HAVANA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Cuba has made the distribution of food and construction materials to victims its top priority in efforts to recover from the recent devastating hurricanes, former leader Fidel Castro has said.

    "We are and must be socialists to share all our goods," Castro said in an article published Sunday by local press.

    "We are not a developed capitalist country in crisis, whose leaders are going crazy today in seeking solutions between depression, inflation, lack of markets and unemployment," he said.

    Castro also hailed leaders of the Communist Party and national and local governments who have been working on recovery from the devastating hurricanes.

    On Aug. 30, Hurricane Gustav hit the western part of Cuba. One week later, Hurricane Ike swept the eastern and western parts of the island, killing seven people.

    The two devastating hurricanes have left thousands of people homeless and caused a property loss of 5 billion U.S. dollars, according to official statistics.