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Cuban president speaks on radio
The ailing Cuban President, Fidel Castro, has spoken publicly for the first time since falling ill last July.
He was heard speaking live on the daily radio programme of his ally, the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez.
The 80-year-old leader is believed to be suffering from diverticulitis, a weakening of the walls of the colon.
He said he was "gaining ground," adding he felt he had more "energy and more strength." He was last seen in a video recording released in early February.
Mr Castro's younger brother, Raul, has been acting as Cuban president since July.
Cuban denials
"Hello there, illustrious and dear friend, how are you?" Fidel Castro asked President Chavez at the start of an extended conversation on the Venezuelan leader's "Hello President" show.
"I feel good and I'm happy," Mr Castro went on.
Mr Chavez has visited the convalescing Cuban leader several times, most recently in January.
Video of their meetings without sound has been released.
Mr Castro's health is treated as a state secret in Cuba, and has been the subject of much speculation both at home and overseas.
The most regular pronouncements on his health have come from Mr Chavez.
Cuban authorities have denied the claims of US intelligence officials that he has terminal cancer but will only say that Mr Castro is recuperating satisfactorily.
In January, President Chavez denied a report in a Spanish newspaper that said Mr Castro's prognosis was very grave after three failed operations.
More
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6402901.stm
The 80-year-old leader is believed to be suffering from diverticulitis, a weakening of the walls of the colon.
He said he was "gaining ground," adding he felt he had more "energy and more strength." He was last seen in a video recording released in early February.
Mr Castro's younger brother, Raul, has been acting as Cuban president since July.
Cuban denials
"Hello there, illustrious and dear friend, how are you?" Fidel Castro asked President Chavez at the start of an extended conversation on the Venezuelan leader's "Hello President" show.
"I feel good and I'm happy," Mr Castro went on.
Mr Chavez has visited the convalescing Cuban leader several times, most recently in January.
Video of their meetings without sound has been released.
Mr Castro's health is treated as a state secret in Cuba, and has been the subject of much speculation both at home and overseas.
The most regular pronouncements on his health have come from Mr Chavez.
Cuban authorities have denied the claims of US intelligence officials that he has terminal cancer but will only say that Mr Castro is recuperating satisfactorily.
In January, President Chavez denied a report in a Spanish newspaper that said Mr Castro's prognosis was very grave after three failed operations.
More
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6402901.stm
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"I'm gaining ground. I feel I have more energy, more strength and more time to study," President Castro said, speaking slowly but confidently during a relaxed conversation broadcast live on Venezuelan radio.
The conversation formed an apparently unscheduled highspot of President Chavez's regular chatshow, Aló Presidente, and was accompanied by video footage of the Venezuelan leader's last visit to Mr Castro's sickbed in Havana in January. Cuban television later interrupted its nightly news programme to broadcast the exchange.
The Venezuelan leader broke into English at one point to ask: "Fidel, how are you?" The Cuban leader, 80, barely missed a beat before replying "very well", to applause and laughter from the studio audience.
The telephone encounter was reported extensively on the websites of Spanish newspapers yesterday, complete with video and audio coverage.
It seems that the Cuban leader took the initiative to call President Chavez, who sounded surprised to receive an on-air call from Havana. "You don't know how happy we are to hear your voice and know that you are well," Mr Chavez said.
The veteran Cuban leader showed that he had been keeping up with the news, commenting that the plunge on the American and Chinese stock markets earlier that day showed that capitalism was in crisis.
More
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2314205.ece