Fidel Castro Chats Live With Nicaraguan Med
Students
Managua (AP) - Fidel Castro chatted live via
speakerphone with graduating medical
students in Nicaragua in the latest of a
series of media events showing off the
former Cuban leader looking more robust.
The 83-year-old Castro, who hasn't been seen
in public since falling ill three years ago,
called Thursday during the graduation
ceremony to congratulate the 44 doctors who
had studied in Cuba.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega
interrupted a graduation speech to put
Castro's call on a speaker for the crowd to
hear.
"I'm a great admirer of doctors, and it
makes me very happy that a group of
graduates is getting together," Castro told
Ortega in the brief call.
It was Castro's first publicly broadcast
phone call since 2007, when he exchanged
praise and jokes with Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez via telephone on Chavez's Sunday
television and radio program.
Despite periodic rumors that he is on his
death bed, a healthier-looking Castro has
recently emerged in photos and video,
meeting with Latin American leaders and
student and church delegations.
He appeared on state television Sunday for
the first time since June 2008, meeting with
a group of Venezuelan law students. The
broadcast showed Castro, looking heavier and
rested, talking with the students at an
undisclosed location.
Castro ceded power to his brother Raul when
he fell ill and formally stepped down as
president in February 2008. |
