AP News, April 14th, 2007
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday said his close friend and ally Fidel Castro has "almost totally recovered" from his illness and has resumed many of his duties as Cuba's leader.
Speaking at a televised news conference, Chavez said the 80-year-old Cuban leader's marked improvement was clear.
"Almost totally recovered is the very reliable information that I keep receiving," Chavez said. "The reports that I have and that keep arriving speak of _ and not only the reports but his own notes, his voice on the telephone ... a doctor would say real recovery."
Chavez has regularly offered updates on Castro's health in the more than eight months since the Cuban leader underwent emergency intestinal surgery and ceded his leadership responsibilities to his brother, Raul.
"Fidel has reassumed a good part of his duties, not formally, but I can attest to the fact that he has been very on top of, for example, energy issues," Chavez said, adding that he could not predict when Castro would fully recover.
Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Roque, traveling in Vietnam, said Castro was getting stronger every day.
"President Fidel Castro is recovering very well," Roque told reporters after an hour-long meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Gia Khiem.
Castro hasn't made any public appearances since undergoing surgery last July.
His condition and exact ailment remain a state secret, but he is widely believed to suffer from diverticular disease, a weakening of the walls of the colon that can cause sustained bleeding.
Roque said Castro was back to his pre-surgery weight, did regular rehabilitation exercises and had resumed some of his leadership responsibilities.
"He receives reports about the country's situation and is directly involved in managing some important issues," Roque said.
There has been a growing expectation on the island that Castro will soon make a public appearance, but in recent weeks he has appeared only as the author of three written articles.
In Mexico City, Cuban folk singer Silvio Rodriguez said Castro's nearly nine-month convalescence has proven that Cuba is ready to live without its longtime leader.
The prospect of Cuba without Castro "gives me pain," said Rodriguez, known throughout Latin America for the revolutionary fervor of many of his songs.
But there are "many young, capable Cubans who have been governing for many years," said Rodriguez, who lives in Cuba and was in Mexico City promoting a series of upcoming concerts.
He also predicted that opposition movements would someday be tolerated in Cuba, saying, "maybe not in the form of a party ... and maybe not immediately, but it will happen."
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Associated Press Writer Istra Pacheco contributed to this report from Mexico City.
