Castro Reportedly Back at Work

The Associated Press

April 21, 2007

CBNNews.com - HAVANA - Some residents on the streets of Havana on Saturday welcomed the news that Fidel Castro had held meetings with a visiting Chinese Communist Party delegation as the latest sign of the Cuban leader's recovery.

Photographs of Fidel Castro meeting with the head of the delegation were published on Saturday in Cuba's Communist Party daily newspaper, the 'Granma.'

It was one of his first major acts since undergoing emergency intestinal surgery eight months ago.

"I think it's great that he appeared. We were all expecting it sooner or later. I want him to get well and continue on," Darien Cordero told AP Television News.

"It fills me with satisfaction to see that his recovery is progressing. I haven't lost hope that we shall soon have him standing there at the forefront of this revolution. That is the greatest thing for me and the Cuban people," added Idelgrade Bruzeta.

The Granma reported that Wu Guanzheng, a member of the Chinese Communist Party's Politburo, met separately on Friday with both Castro and his younger brother Raul, who has been working as the acting president since July.

Click play to see published pictures of Castro's meeting.

A short message about the encounter was first read on state television on Friday night and carried on official news services, but the new images of Castro were not released until Saturday.

In photographs published in the Granma, Castro was seen dressed in a brown and red track suit with white detailing as he met with Wu.

In one, he sat in a rocking chair across from Wu with another member of the Chinese delegation between them, apparently taking notes on the meeting.

In a second, the two men were standing and shaking hands.

While looking pale after months indoors, the 80-year-old appeared much stronger than previous images, which appeared last autumn, in which he was shown dressed in red pyjamas and resting in bed, during a visit from his ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Fidel Castro's condition and exact ailment remain state secrets, but he is believed to suffer from diverticular disease, which can cause inflammation and bleeding in the colon.

Castro has not been seen in public since before July 31, when he announced he had undergone surgery and was provisionally ceding power to his brother while he recovered.

Since then, he has been seen only in photographs and videos released by the government, initially looking thin and weak but more recently appearing stronger.

Cuban officials have been giving increasingly positive reports about Castro' s recovery, sparking expectations that the he will make a public appearance soon, perhaps at the annual May 1 workers parade that draws hundreds of thousands of people.

In recent weeks, he has written three editorials published in official media under the title "Reflections of the Commander in Chief".

After meeting for an hour with Fidel Castro and delivering a letter from Chinese President Hu Jintao, Wu met with Raul Castro to discuss economic and other issues, Granma said.

Trade between the two communist countries has burgeoned in recent years, growing to $1.8 billion last year, double that of 2005, according to Chinese officials in Cuba.

After his stop in Cuba, Wu was due to head next to Colombia and Chile.

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