HAVANA (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez met with Cuban President Raul Castro and former leader Fidel Castro as he “recovers satisfactorily” from surgery in Havana last week, Cuban press reported yesterday.
Communist Party newspaper Granma showed four photos of a smiling Chavez with the Castro brothers in a meeting said to have occurred on Friday in what looked to be a hospital room.
Chavez, 56, was operated on for what was described as a “pelvic abscess” at the end of a trip through several Latin American countries. He and his government have issued assurances that he continues to govern his oil-producing South American country from Cuba.
Granma said Chavez “maintained close coordination with the vice president and other Venezuelan ministers, staying abreast of the principal matters of his country.”
Chavez told Telesur network on June 12 he was not certain when he would return to Venezuela, where opponents are raising questions about both the seriousness of his illness and the legitimacy of his governing from afar — particularly from Cuba where they suspect the influence of Fidel Castro over Chavez.
In what was called a “brotherly meeting,” Chavez and the Castros reviewed the “close ties” between their socialist countries and spoke about the “international situation,” according to the brief story that accompanied the photos.
Chavez and Fidel Castro, who is 84, wore track suits in the photos — Chavez’ with colors and stars like the Venezuelan flag, Castro’s a simple blue with white trim over a checked shirt — while Raul Castro had on a brown military uniform.
Fidel Castro, who officially ceded power to his brother in 2008 due to age and intestinal illness, appeared pale and was holding on to Chavez as the three stood for one of the photos. Chavez had his arm around Raul Castro.
