Cuban foreign minister: Castro recovering
Visiting Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said in Portugal Friday that the island nation's leader Fidel Castro is in much better health and has nearly recovered his normal weight.

Perez, in Portugal for a one-day visit on the invitation of his Portuguese counterpart Luis Amado, reported Castro's "continued recovery."

The 80-year-old leader has not been seen in public since undergoing an intestinal operation in July last year. He temporarily handed the reins of the government to Defense Minister Raul Castro.

Meanwhile, Cuba's National Assembly head Ricardo Alarcon said on Thursday that Castro was recovering favorably and remained linked to all the nation's important decisions.

During the Friday meeting, Perez said that the two nations had agreed to push collaboration forward in culture, sports and academic fields and had proposed increased trade.

Perez also said the difference in opinion between the European Union (EU) and Cuba had been overcome, referring to the 2003 EU declaration that Cuba violated human rights.

Perez said that Spain's former prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, was responsible for the conflict, but that Spain and Italy, both of which have changed governments, now have a "more positive position" toward Cuba.

"We will have to make an effort so that Cuba-EU relations disentangle over the coming years, which Portugal will facilitate through mediation and dialogue," Amado said.

Perez Roque will also visit France, Switzerland, Italy and the Vatican as part of his European tour.