Chilean president meets ‘agile, active’ Fidel Castro

September 23rd, 2009 HAVANA - Former Cuban president Fidel Castro described last Sunday's concert by Juanes as a blow to the 47-year-old US economic embargo against his country. "The Cuban people, especially in their magnificent youth, showed that even in the midst of a brutal economic blockade, it's possible to overcome unimaginable obstacles," Castro said in his latest column "Reflections" published Monday night.

September 4th, 2009 Photo shows Fidel Castro outside, in dress shirtHAVANA — Cuban state media have released a second recent photo showing Fidel Castro in regular civilian clothing instead of the track suits that he commonly wore after falling ill in July 2006. In the picture, the 83-year-old Castro is shaking hands with the visiting head of the Chinese parliament in the walled backyard of an undisclosed home.

August 24th, 2009 HAVANA - Cuban leader Fidel Castro has met Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, the official Juventud Rebelde newspaper reported in an article that featured a photograph of both men standing and wearing white sport shirts. Castro and Correa had "a thorough exchange of impressions ...

August 23rd, 2009 Healthy looking Fidel Castro meets Ecuador leaderHAVANA — Cuba's Communist Youth newspaper is showing a photo of a healthier-looking Fidel Castro talking with the visiting Ecuadorean president. Sunday's photo in Juventud Rebelde shows the 83-year-old Castro wearing a white shirt instead of the sports apparel he has worn in recent photos.

August 15th, 2009 Chavez back from Cuba for Fidel's 83rd birthdayCARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez said Friday he found his close ally and mentor Fidel Castro in good health during a visit to Cuba to celebrate the Cuban leader's 83rd birthday. Chavez says they shared a cake.

April 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Former Cuban president Fidel Castro met Tuesday with three visiting members of the US Congress in what they called a sign that Cuba wants to open a new dialogue with Washington. After a two-hour meeting with Castro, Congresswoman Barbara Lee told reporters in Washington that she was convinced the Cubans want to talk with Washington about normalising relations.

March 6th, 2009 HAVANA - Cuban leader Fidel Castro rejected media reports that his close associates in the government have been replaced by younger brother President Raul Castro's men. The Cuban leader said several media organisations have been spreading rumours about a replacement of 'Fidel's men with Raul's men', which is incorrect.

February 9th, 2009 HAVANA - Former Cuban president Fidel Castro has said that Barack Obama is incapable of solving the problems faced by the US. In his Monday newspaper column, Reflections, Castro also suggested that other countries would be the real victims of the US financial crisis.

February 9th, 2009 HAVANA - Former Cuban president Fidel Castro has said Barack Obama and his team would not be able to solve the economic problems faced by the US. Castro said that Obama, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and 'all of the talented politicians and economists they have brought together would not suffice to solve the growing problems of the American capitalist society'.

February 6th, 2009 HAVANA - Cuban leader Fidel Castro has said that US President Barack Obama's politics was 'losing its virginity', Spanish news agency EFE reported Saturday. In the third article in two weeks criticising the actions of the new US president, Cuba's ex-president commented on White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's statement that 'what interests president Obama is the Cuban-American community'.

January 29th, 2009 MOSCOW - Former Cuban president and revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has demanded that the US unconditionally return the Guantanamo Bay military base to his country. In an article published Thursday on the CubaDebate website, the communist leader sharply criticised the new US administration and accused President Barack Obama of supporting Israel in its 'genocide' of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

January 29th, 2009 HAVANA - Cuba will not grant any political concessions to the US for a possible return of the Guantanamo Bay naval base, the country's ailing revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has said. In an column titled 'Deciphering the thought of the new US president', posted on the government-run cubadebate.cu website, Castro wrote that US President Barack Obama had to return the territory without any conditions attached.

January 21st, 2009 HAVANA - Ailing Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro received visiting Argentinean President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner here, Cuban news agency Prensa Latina reported Thursday. The 82-year-old leader, who has permanently relinquished rule to his brother, Raul Castro, has been rarely seen in public since suffering from a serious health crisis in 2006.

January 11th, 2009 CARACAS - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said that Cuban leader Fidel Castro would not appear at official public events in future because of his delicate health, EFE reported Monday. 'Regrettably, we know that that will not occur again...

January 1st, 2009 SANTIAGO DE CUBA - Cuban President Raul Castro said Thursday that the Cuban revolution after 50 years was 'stronger than ever despite the obsessive and revengeful hate of the United States.' Despite the current difficult times, the revolutionary movement had moved barely a millimetre from its principles, the younger brother of the ailing revolutionary leader Fidel Castro said at the formal celebration of the anniversary. The 77-year-old president spoke in Santiago de Cuba, the southern town where Fidel Castro declared victory from city hall over the Fulgencio Batista regime on Jan 1, 1959.