Medical state `is not a lost battle,' he says
By Ray Sánchez
Havana Bureau
Posted January 31 2007
Havana · In the first public images of Fidel Castro in three months,
Cuban television Tuesday night showed video of the ailing leader
standing and chatting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
"This is not a lost battle," Castro said to Chavez, referring to his
medical condition. In the 10-minute video, Castro, 80, looked alert and
heavier than he did when last seen on Oct. 28.
Cuba's state-run television said the video was taped on Monday during an
unannounced two-hour meeting between Castro and his Venezuelan counterpart.
The images were the first of the Cuban leader since late October, when
he appeared thin and frail in a video that showed him taking slow steps
in a red, white and blue track suit. In the latest video, Castro again
appeared in a track suit, but this time he was standing more upright,
receiving Chavez with an embrace, toasting and sipping from a glass of
juice, and reading a newspaper headline.
At one point, Chavez told Castro that his voice sounded stronger than
when the Cuban leader visited Venezuela decades ago. Castro smiled and
joked, "I was still learning then."
The latest video appears after recent reports about Castro's failing
health, including an article about two weeks ago in the Spanish
newspaper El Pais that described his condition as grave after a series
of failed intestinal operations.
On July 31, Cuban authorities announced that Castro had undergone
emergency intestinal surgery and was provisionally ceding power to his
younger brother, Raul, the defense minister. The regime has called Fidel
Castro's medical condition a state secret, avoiding any mention of his
health problems in the state-run media.
"Fidel has said we have not lost this battle," Chavez said. "I would
say, we're winning it and we shall win it."
In the video, Chavez greeted Castro as the "Caesar of dignity" before
embracing a smiling Castro. "This is the sentiment of millions," Chavez
said. "We admire you. We need you. We follow you."
The two leaders were seen talking and sipping juice in front of a
painting of Cuban patriot José Martí, and Chavez is heard saying that
the two-hour meeting took place on Monday. At another point, Castro is
heard reading aloud a headline from the Argentine newspaper, Clarin.
After a toast, Castro alluded to a fall he had in October 2004 in Santa
Clara, the town where Che Guevara is buried.
"I had a fall and, before I finished rehabilitating, I had this," he
said, his voice trailing off. "One thing after the other."
Chavez said the two leaders talked about several issues, including war
and the world's energy crisis. He described Castro as being "of good
humor, with a good appearance and in good spirits."
"There is Fidel, still on his feet, complete, " he said. "I ask God that
he continue to recuperate."
Ray Sánchez can be reached at rlsanchez@sun-sentinel.com.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-hfidel31jan31,0,944107.story?coll=sfla-news-cuba
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