Castro seen in public, fit as a Fidel

FORMER Cuban president Fidel Castro, 88, appeared in public “full of vitality” for the first time in more than a year on Monday, greeting a delegation of Venezuelans, according to official media.

It was his first known appearance outside his home since Cuba in December agreed to normalise relations with the United States, Castro’s long-time adversary.

Official media showed images of a seated Castro shaking hands with the visiting Venezuelans through the window of his vehicle, wearing a baseball cap.

He met at a school with 33 Venezuelans, who were on a solidarity mission to Cuba, for about 90 minutes. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, oil-rich Venezuela has become Communist Cuba’s closest ally and chief benefactor.

“Fidel is full of vitality,” Juventud Rebelde newspaper reported.

Castro’s previous public sighting was on January 8 last year, at the opening of a Havana cultural centre. He writes an occasional newspaper column, receives dignitaries at home, and rarely appears in public.