VENEZUELA/CUBA: Bolivian President Evo Morales says Cuba's Fidel Castro is thin but lucid

Record ID: 1539332

  • Title: VENEZUELA/CUBA: Bolivian President Evo Morales says Cuba's Fidel Castro is thin but lucid
  • Date: 23rd May 2008
  • Summary: (BN03) CARACAS, VENEZUELA (MAY 22, 2008) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) HUGO CHAVEZ, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT SAYING: "We will be there at midnight, in Brasilia. We were invited for some coffee. He wants us to have a cup of coffee in the morning before the Unasur summit begins. He sent you an invitation through me since he couldn't get in touch with you directly, with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa with whom we also spoke yesterday by phone, with (Argentine) ex-President (Nestor) Kirchner, about tomorrow's UNASUR meeting." JOURNALISTS WORKING CHAVEZ AND MORALES ENTERING PALACE
  • Embargoed: 8th June 2008 05:21
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,People
  • Reuters ID: LVAE416AX1PUEY2T5W86RB8GYOKN
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Fidel Castro is "thin but very lucid," Bolivian President Evo Morales said after meeting with the former Cuban leader on Thursday (May 22).
    Speaking in Venezuela, Morales said he met with the ailing communist leader during a brief trip to the Caribbean island.
    "I had a meeting with Fidel, I found him thin but very lucid, as always a very wise man," Morales said.
    The 81-year-old revolutionary leader has not appeared in public since he had intestinal surgery in July 2006. His brother Raul Castro formally took over leadership of Cuba from him in February.
    Cuban state television said Morales had an "animated meeting"
    with Fidel Castro for two hours on Thursday in which they discussed Latin American politics and ties between the two countries.
    It showed images of Morales meeting with Raul Castro and Cuban officials, but not with Fidel Castro.
    The last images of Castro shown in public were broadcast by Cuba in January and showed him looking frail but chatting and taking photos with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva.
    Morales and left-wing ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are close to the Cuban leadership and consider Castro an inspiration and elder adviser.
    Cuba sends doctors and teachers to the two countries in return for subsidized Venezuelan oil.
    Morales visited Venezuela ahead of a visit to Brazil, where leaders from 12 South American countries will sign a treaty that creates the South American Union of Nations as well as an action plan that includes energy, infrastructure and financing projects.

    "We'll be there at midnight, in Brasilia," said Chavez, "before the UNASUR summit begins."
    Unasur, as the entity is called, is modelled after the European Union and intended to give the region more international clout and a platform for faster economic growth.
    The group will be led by Chile and is expected to create a South American parliament to be based in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
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