Castro 'getting better' and in charge: Minister
Apr 12, 2007 - 7:33:30 PM
|
|
|
Castro wrote a long article in the official daily Granma, his first in many months, in which he vented his spleen at his arch enemy, the US, for using food crops for biofuels, and before that he chatted with his ally and friend, Venezuelan President Hugo Ch�vez for half an hour on Venezuelan radio.
|
By IANS,
[RxPG] New Delhi, April 12 - Don't write off Fidel Castro yet. Cuba's living legend is poised to stage a comeback from his sickbed with his health 'getting better' by the day and the current leadership consulting him on key strategic decisions, said visiting Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque.
'Castro is getting better consistently. He has put on weight. He is doing physical exercise every day,' Roque, who is on an official trip to India, the first non-aligned country he is visiting after Cuba took over the chair of the NAM in September last year, told reporters here Thursday.
'Castro's health has improved and it's a joy to our people,' said Roque, his voice echoing the collective pride Cubans feel in their patriarchal leader.
'More serious moments of his illness are behind him. He is consulted on most important strategic decisions,' said the minister, indicating that the ailing leader may return to power and public life soon.
'As per Cuba's constitution, the first vice-president takes charge in the absence of the president,' he said when asked whether there is a succession plan in place in case Castro does not outlast his illness.
'Raul Castro is the First Vice President of the Council state. He is there not because of his last name, but because of his contribution to the Revolution. Revolution has the support of the people,' Roque added.
Castro transferred power 'temporarily' for the first time in 47 years to his younger brother Raul on July 31 after announcing he had undergone surgery for an intestinal illness.
Western media even speculated that he was suffering from terminal cancer and would not live long.
Raul Castro, acting president and effective head of the government, 75, is not young either and this has sparked speculation in international media about the course of post-Castro Cuba.
Roque, however, defended the 'Cuban model of democracy' based on an equality of opportunity and social justice under one-party rule, and indicated that even after Castro those expecting a radical transition in the Communist country should not expect much.
Castro couldn't chair the Non-Aligned Movement summit in September last year - his pet passion for decades and a platform from where he launched his famous anti-America diatribes - due to his illness.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was one of the few leaders who were allowed to meet him during the NAM summit.
Castro wrote a long article in the official daily Granma, his first in many months, in which he vented his spleen at his arch enemy, the US, for using food crops for biofuels, and before that he chatted with his ally and friend, Venezuelan President Hugo Ch�vez for half an hour on Venezuelan radio.
Nobel-winning Colombian writer Gabriel Garc�a M�rquez, after taking a stroll with the octogenarian leader recently, said: 'He is the same old Fidel.'
|
Subscribe to India Newsletter
|
|
E-mail Address:
|
|
Feedback
|
For any corrections of factual information, to contact the editors or to send
any medical news or health news press releases, use
feedback form
|
Top of Page
|
