Chavez says Castro 'almost trotting' like a horse

CARACAS: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says that ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is up and walking and "almost trotting" like a horse.   

Chavez offered the upbeat description of his ally after hearing from Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage, who delivered a letter from Castro to the Venezuelan president on Thursday.   

Chavez declared that, according to Lage, the 80-year-old Castro is "walking more than me; he's almost trotting" like a horse.   

Holding up the letter before television cameras, Chavez said, "This is for those who say he's dying".   

But while the letter indicated that Castro remained attentive to politics and policy matters, it failed to answer persistent questions about Castro's health amid speculation that he is terminally ill.   

Six months after he dropped from the public eye, little has been heard from Castro, who transferred power provisionally to his brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro, on July 31. That was four days after the Cuban leader underwent intestinal surgery, and since then, rumours have ranged from his being on the road to slow recovery or near death.   

Lage's appearance in Caracas with the letter for Chavez made clear Havana wants it known the "Comandante" who has led Cuba for nearly five decades is still alive and keeping his hand in political issues.   

Chavez, who has visited the ailing Castro and says he often speaks to him by telephone, said Castro had asked him not to publish his letter but to read some of it in public.   

Lage and his delegation, he quoted Castro as writing, "are bringing 17 points (of agreement). ... I'm happy with the idea of including the tourist zone in the place you've selected."   

"I'm pleased the energy program is going ahead at full speed. ... It is a vital issue for the human race," Castro wrote, according to Chavez.   

Still, unlike on previous occasions, Chavez gave no further indication of Castro's condition.   

Officials from the United States and elsewhere have suggested Castro has terminal cancer. A Spanish surgeon who visited Castro last month dismissed the theory but gave no details of his ailment. The hospital where he works, however, said Castro had suffered intestinal hemorrhaging last summer and a severe infection caused by an inflammation of the large intestine.   

Havana continues to operate in secrecy. Raul Castro has been only slightly visible in public over the past six months. And Lage's trip to Venezuela, along with several government ministers, was publicly announced only moments before he arrived for talks with Chavez.   

"Everything that is said is sheer speculation. What is certain is that Cuba feeds the rumors," said a Latin American diplomat in Havana.   

Chavez and Lage said Wednesday that Castro was watching them on television from his bed as they signed more than a dozen agreements for closer cooperation, notably in the areas of tourism and telecommunications.   

"How are you, Fidel?" Chavez called out in English, prodding officials from both countries to applaud Castro on camera.   

After reading the Cuban leader's letter, Chavez said: "Full steam ahead, Caballo," using his nickname for Castro meaning "horse."   

"We all need you. That's how much we love you."