Cuban President Fidel Castro seen in public looking healthy, report says

Cuban President Fidel Castro seen in public looking healthy, report says

Associated Press

HAVANA

Fidel Castro has appeared in public for the first time in months, a top hotel executive told The Associated Press on Sunday, challenging persistent rumors that the aging revolutionary is near death.

The 86-year-old retired leader dropped off a Venezuelan guest at the Hotel Nacional on Saturday afternoon, then stayed to chat with hotel staff, commercial director Yamila Fuster said.

“Fidel Castro was here yesterday, he brought a guest and spoke to workers and hotel leaders for 30 minutes,” Fuster said. She said she was not present but that the news was being released officially by the state-owned establishment.

“They told me he looked very good. He was wearing a checked shirt and a hat,” she said.

Fuster would not release the name of the Venezuelan guest, but witnesses at the hotel say former Venezuelan Vice President Elias Jaua is staying there. A car with Venezuelan diplomatic plates was parked Sunday outside the hotel, and Cuban officials were seen carrying a photo album similar to ones the government gives as gifts to distinguished guests, normally filled with official pictures.

No photos have yet been released of Fidel’s visit, but Fuster said they may be soon.

Asked to confirm the news, the Cuban government referred all questions to the hotel.

The Nacional is Cuba’s most famous hotel and a common choice of many distinguished guests to the island.

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis, which brought the United States and Cuba to the brink of war over Soviet missile construction on the island.