Castro and Chavez hold 'emotional' talks
HAVANA (AFP) — Convalescing Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez held an "emotional" meeting to discuss regional integration and international affairs, it was announced here Friday.
Thursday's two-and-a-half hour encounter was "an expression of the deep friendship uniting our peoples and leaders," said an official statement published in the Granma and Juventud Rebelde newspapers.
Chavez is in Cuba for the fourth summit of Petrocaribe, an initiative created by Venezuela to provide oil to Caribbean neighbors at preferential prices.
He opened the summit Friday together with acting Cuban President Raul Castro, Fidel's brother, in the southeastern city of Cienfuegos, where the Venezuelan leader was also to inaugurate a refinery to be operated by both countries.
Castro heaped praise on his protege in a letter released to the media during the summit.
"You have been brilliant, not only in your initial words but also during the meeting," wrote the 81-year-old veteran communist, referring to Chavez's speech at the summit. "I congratulate you for the seriousness and deepness of your words. You spoke clearly, precisely and briefly."
In their meeting Thursday, the two leaders discussed the summit, regional integration and international affairs, the statement said.
It was the ninth time Chavez has visited Castro since the Cuban leader was sidelined by intestinal surgery 17 months ago and "temporarily" handed power to his younger brother Raul.
On Monday, the elder Castro gave the strongest hint yet that he may never return to power, releasing a letter to the nation saying he would not "cling to office" or obstruct the rise of a new generation of leaders.
Chavez has been one of the main sources of information on Castro's health, appearing several times in videos by his friend's bedside to show how the Cuban leader is recovering.
In his last visit to Cuba in October, the leftist Venezuelan leader hosted his weekly television show from the city of Santa Clara and spoke with Castro by telephone -- the first time Cubans had heard Castro's voice live since his illness.
Castro has not appeared in public since his July 2006 surgery, but he has made his presence felt through a series of essays commenting on a wide range of world affairs, published in official newspapers.
He has found in Chavez a powerful ally in Latin America who has taken over his role as the region's most vocal critic of the United States.
After the Petrocaribe summit, Chavez was to visit the tomb of Cuba's independence icon Jose Marti and the Moncada barracks, a symbol of Cuba's revolution, in the southeastern city of Santiago de Cuba.
Oil-rich Venezuela is Cuba's main trade partner and delivers 92,000 barrels of oil a day to the Caribbean island.
Chavez gave a boost to Raul Castro's government in October when he announced millions of dollars' worth of tourism, communication and oil projects.
His status as Latin America's leading leftist got its own boost this week when Colombia's Marxist rebel group FARC said it would release three hostages to him or "whomever he opts to designate."
The widely celebrated announcement was seen as a coup for Chavez but something of a snub of Bogota, which last month ended the Venezuelan president's participation in efforts to release some 45 FARC hostages.
