Venezuela’s Chavez shares cake with Fidel Castro on Cuba leader’s 83rd birthday

September 24th, 2009 Fidel Castro's sister to release book on brothersMIAMI — Juanita Castro, the exiled sister of Cuban leaders Fidel and Raul Castro, is set to release a first-person memoir in which she talks at length about her brothers. The more than 400-page book titled: "My Brothers Fidel and Raul.

August 29th, 2009 Castro chats live for first time since 2007MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Fidel Castro chatted live via speakerphone with graduating medical students in Nicaragua in the latest of a series of media events showing off the former Cuban leader looking more robust. The 83-year-old Castro, who hasn't been seen in public since falling ill three years ago, called Thursday during the graduation ceremony to congratulate the 44 doctors who had studied in Cuba.

August 24th, 2009 Fidel Castro back in Cuban spotlightHAVANA — Fidel Castro is back — on Cuba's front pages, at least. Cuba's state media have published a flurry of photographs and a video of the former president in recent days, accompanied by assurances that his health has improved since he fell gravely ill in 2006.

August 13th, 2009 Fidel Castro marks 83rd birthday with essayHAVANA — The founder of a New York-based church group that opposes the U.S. embargo of Cuba said Thursday that former Cuban President Fidel Castro looked strong and animated during a July 31 meeting.

August 13th, 2009 Fidel Castro marks 83rd birthday with crisis essayHAVANA — Former President Fidel Castro marked his 83rd birthday Thursday out of the public eye but with an essay on the global economic crisis, climate change and immigration that headlined Cuban newspapers. Castro ceded power to his brother Raul when he fell ill three years ago and has not been seen in public since.

August 2nd, 2009 Raul Castro: Cuba won't undo communist systemHAVANA — Raul Castro announced Saturday that Cuba will cut spending on education and health care, potentially weakening the building blocks of its communist system in a bid to revive a floundering economy. The former defense minister who took over the presidency last year called state spending "simply unsustainable" and said the cash-strapped government would reorganize rural schools and scrutinize its free health care system in search of ways to save money.

August 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Cuban President Raul Castro has said that he is ready to talk about everything and anything with the United States, but added that the country's political system was not on the negotiating table. Castro's remarks came during a speech to the closing session of the Cuban Parliament on Saturday afternoon.

April 29th, 2009 Castro: Onus not on Cuba for US better relationsHAVANA — Raul Castro has dismissed Barack Obama's policy changes toward Cuba as "minimal" and says it is up to the U.S. — not Cuba — to do more to improve relations.

April 9th, 2009 HAVANA - Former Cuban president Fidel Castro has said he believes US President Barack Obama wants to improve relations with Cuba, but the US political reality will not make that possible. Castro said in an article that when one of the lawmakers, Bobby Rush, told him that Obama would need help from Cuba to end the five-decade chill in US-Cuban ties, he replied by observing 'that the objective realities' of the US are 'stronger than Obama's sincere intentions'.

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.

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 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.