Friday, September 15, 2006

HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): Fidel Castro is regaining some of the weight he has lost since his operation, and can once again speak in a loud voice fit for speeches, an Argentine lawmaker wrote a day after meeting the Cuban strongman.

Writing in the Argentine Pagina12 daily, Miguel Bonasso also said the Cuban president hailed his ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as "a world leader" and expressed certainty the South American country would win the UN Security Council seat it is seeking.

"I lost 41 pounds (19 kilograms) ... But I'm putting the weight back on. Nearly half what I lost already," Bonasso quoted Castro as saying.

Castro, 80, shocked Cubans on July 31 when he announced in a statement read on his behalf that he had undergone surgery and ceded power -- for the first time in almost 48 years -- to his brother Raul for the duration of his convalescence.

Bonasso, who is an official guest at a six-day Non-Aligned Movement summit in Havana, said in the Pagina12 article that Castro "was as lucid and sharp as ever."

"He spoke with that same conspiratorial tone of a conspirator that the listener must unravel," though he at times gave orders to aides in a loud voice "to demonstrate he can go back to giving speeches any time now," the Argentine lawmaker wrote.

"You see, I can speak in a very loud tone of voice if I want to," Castro was quoted as telling his guest.

It was unclear whether Castro was well enough to attend the summit, which concludes on Saturday, though he has said he would meet some of the dignitaries, first among whom was Bonasso, a friend and admirer of the bearded Cuban leader.

Castro has not been seen in public since his July 31 announcement, but Cuban media showed photographs and video footage of him on several subsequent occasions.

"President Fidel Castro's health is improving, it is progressing favorably," Deputy Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno told reporters Thursday.

Wednesday, Cuban television showed Castro dressed in a dark robe and chatting effusively with his Argentine guest.

Bonasso did not disclose where Castro was staying, but said the meeting took place in an austere room, and that the Cuban president was sitting in bed with a white table and a cell phone in front of him.

Castro spoke passionately about current events, the lawmaker said, calling the Cuban president "a living giant."

He said the communist leader expressed certainty Venezuela would win one of the 10 non-permanent seats on the 15-strong UN Security Council for which Chavez has been lobbying in rivalry against US-backed Guatemala.

"They won't be able to prevent his joining the Council," Castro was quoted as saying about Chavez. The Venezuelan leader arrived in Havana Thursday and said he was heading straight for a meeting with Castro, his ally and mentor.

"He is not an extremist," Castro said of Chavez.

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