Reprinted from Caribbean Net News
caribbeannetnews.com

Castro's health improving, says Venezuelan ambassador
02-09-2007

CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP): The health of Cuban leader Fidel Castro is steadily improving and he has begun eating food again, Venezuela's ambassador to Havana, Ali Rodriguez, said in a television interview on Thursday.

Castro is "improving progressively," Rodriguez told state Venezuelan television.

"The problem is that before he wasn't eating food, but now he's eating food and that has helped him significantly," the diplomat said.

His remark suggested Castro may have been fed on liquids or intravenously since his surgery six months ago.

The ambassador and former foreign minister said that the improvement in Castro's health was apparent in his most recent appearance on television during a visit by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The images broadcast on January 30 were the first of Castro in three months.

Castro, 80, has been recovering from intestinal surgery and "provisionally" handed over power to his brother Raul six months ago.

Since the operation, authorities have released only scant details about the condition of Castro, who has ruled the only Communist country in the Americas for 48 years.

Rodriguez said the Cuban people have responded to the situation with "serenity."