[NYTr] Fidel Castro, the Comeback Kid
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AFP via Brisbane Times - Apr 14, 2007
http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/cubas-castro-taking-back-reins-of-government-chavez/20071414-7gq.html
Cuba's Castro taking back reins of government: Chavez
Cuban leader Fidel Castro has taken back a large part of the reins of
government and has almost totally recovered eight months after surgery, his
ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday.
"Fidel has nearly completely recovered" from the gastrointestinal surgery
that sidelined him in July, Chavez told a news conference.
"He has taken back a good part of government functions, but, of course, not
formally," he said, adding he had met late Thursday with Cuban officials who
had given him a written note from Castro.
"The information that keeps emerging, his notes, his voice on the telephone,
show a marked improvement (in his health)," said Chavez, who has visited his
ailing friend in Cuba several times. "But I don't want to say more."
Castro, 80, temporarily handed power to his brother and defense chief Raul,
75, on July 31, four days after undergoing surgery.
He has only been seen in videos and pictures since July, but he has
published in the last two weeks three articles railing against US President
George W. Bush, in a sign that he is still closely following current events.
It is the first time that the Communist stalwart has given up the reins of
government since his guerrilla revolution toppled the government of dictator
Fulgencio Batista in 1959.
Cuban officials and Chavez have given steady updates on Castro's health in
recent months, hinting that he is set for a comeback, and defying
predictions by his arch-nemesis, the United States, that his death was
close.
Castro's other top ally in Latin America, Bolivian President Evo Morales,
has suggested that the Cuban leader will make his first public appearance
since surgery at a meeting of a four-nation cooperation group in Havana
later this month.
But Morales's prediction was thrown into doubt Friday as the Venezuelan
ambassador to Cuba, Ali Rodriguez, said the meeting of the Bolivarian
Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) would take place in Caracas instead on
April 27-29.
"What President Evo Morales expressed is the desire that we all share, and
we hope that is the case," Rodriguez said.
"We want to see him in good health again because he has been one of the
inspirational souls of the ALBA process and the integration process," he
said.
ALBA is a Cuban-Venezuelan initiative including Bolivia and Nicaragua that
was launched last year as an alternative to the US-backed Free Trade Area of
the Americas.
In another update on Castro's recovery, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez
Roque said Friday his boss was putting on weight, exercising, keeping
himself informed on world affairs and taking part in the decision-making
process.
"The health of President Fidel Castro has improved notably," said Perez
Roque during a three-day visit to Vietnam, Cuba's Communist ally. "He is
improving continually and substantially."
) 2007 AFP
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