Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

World

Castro holds court on sidelines of Havana summit

-

Fidel Castro, the 87-year-old father of the Cuban revolution, held court on the sidelines of a regional summit here this week, looking alert and well in his numerous meetings with foreign leaders.

Besides his traditional political friends, the Maximum Leader also received UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for the first time and young Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Ban said Castro looked physically very well and "mentally alert," with a strong voice and clear ideas.

They discussed a "vast range" of international issues and "conflict situations like Syria," Ban said after the meeting Tuesday.

The official Communist Party newspaper Granma said Castro "evoked the historic ties that unite Cuba and Mexico" in his meeting with Pena Nieto.

It was as an exile in Mexico that Castro launched his guerrilla campaign to topple dictator Fulgencio Batista, setting out from Veracruz in 1956 with a small band of men on a dilapidated yacht called Granma.

Pena Nieto was in Havana for a summit of Latin American and Caribbean leaders, which ended Wednesday, but is now on a state visit.

Granma said Pena Nieto called for strengthening relations between the two countries.

Nicaraguan President Rafael Correa (L) embraces former Cuban president Fidel Castro (R) on January 2...
Nicaraguan President Rafael Correa (L) embraces former Cuban president Fidel Castro (R) on January 29, 2014
, www.cubadebate.cu/AFP

In recent days, Fidel has also had lunch with Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner and welcomed a long list of regional allies here for the summit of the two-year-old Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, an initiative of Fidel's protege, the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

They included Bolivia's President Evo Morales, Uruguay's Jose Mujica, Ecuador's Rafael Correa, Brazil's Dilma Rousseff, Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega, as well as the prime ministers of Jamaica Portia Simpson Miller and Saint Lucia Kenny Davis Anthony.

No video images of the meetings were aired, but numerous photographs taken by Cuba's official media showed him looking old but mentally engaged.

Since turning over power to his brother Raul in 2006 for health reasons, Fidel has gradually withdrawn from politics and now devotes his time to writing and reflection in his residence in western Havana.

His public appearances are rare, the last one on January 8, when he attended the opening of an art studio and gallery near his home.

Fidel Castro, the 87-year-old father of the Cuban revolution, held court on the sidelines of a regional summit here this week, looking alert and well in his numerous meetings with foreign leaders.

Besides his traditional political friends, the Maximum Leader also received UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for the first time and young Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Ban said Castro looked physically very well and “mentally alert,” with a strong voice and clear ideas.

They discussed a “vast range” of international issues and “conflict situations like Syria,” Ban said after the meeting Tuesday.

The official Communist Party newspaper Granma said Castro “evoked the historic ties that unite Cuba and Mexico” in his meeting with Pena Nieto.

It was as an exile in Mexico that Castro launched his guerrilla campaign to topple dictator Fulgencio Batista, setting out from Veracruz in 1956 with a small band of men on a dilapidated yacht called Granma.

Pena Nieto was in Havana for a summit of Latin American and Caribbean leaders, which ended Wednesday, but is now on a state visit.

Granma said Pena Nieto called for strengthening relations between the two countries.

Nicaraguan President Rafael Correa (L) embraces former Cuban president Fidel Castro (R) on January 2...

Nicaraguan President Rafael Correa (L) embraces former Cuban president Fidel Castro (R) on January 29, 2014
, www.cubadebate.cu/AFP

In recent days, Fidel has also had lunch with Argentina’s President Cristina Kirchner and welcomed a long list of regional allies here for the summit of the two-year-old Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, an initiative of Fidel’s protege, the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

They included Bolivia’s President Evo Morales, Uruguay’s Jose Mujica, Ecuador’s Rafael Correa, Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff, Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega, as well as the prime ministers of Jamaica Portia Simpson Miller and Saint Lucia Kenny Davis Anthony.

No video images of the meetings were aired, but numerous photographs taken by Cuba’s official media showed him looking old but mentally engaged.

Since turning over power to his brother Raul in 2006 for health reasons, Fidel has gradually withdrawn from politics and now devotes his time to writing and reflection in his residence in western Havana.

His public appearances are rare, the last one on January 8, when he attended the opening of an art studio and gallery near his home.

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

You may also like:

World

Calling for urgent action is the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Business

The cathedral is on track to reopen on December 8 - Copyright AFP Ludovic MARINParis’s Notre-Dame Cathedral, ravaged by fire in 2019, is on...

Business

Saudi Aramco President & CEO Amin Nasser speaks during the CERAWeek oil summit in Houston, Texas - Copyright AFP Mark FelixPointing to the still...

Business

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal infers that some workers might be falling out of the job market altogether.