Fidel Castro invites Bolivian ally Morales for visit
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| Published on Friday, June 8, 2007 |
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HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): Leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales arrived in Cuba Thursday for a lightning visit to meet with top government officials, state media announced, without saying if he would meet with ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
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| Bolivian President Evo Morales (L) is greeted by Cuban acting President Raul Castro, as Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage (R) and Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque (2nd R) look on, prior to a meeting in Havana during a 24-hour flying visit. AFP PHOTO |
An official statement said that Castro, 80, who is still recovering from surgery 10 months ago, invited his ally for the working visit.
Morales will meet with Cuban officials, state media said, without naming any. Observers however said it was likely that Morales would meet with Castro.
The visit, the length of which was also not specified, was "a new sign of the strong bonds of friendship" between the countries, the reports said.
In La Paz, officials said Morales would be back in Bolivia by late Thursday, after meeting with Bolivian students in Cuba and possibly with Castro.
Last weekend, Vietnam Communist Party chief, Nong Duc Manh, held an unannounced meeting with Castro at the close of his three-day visit to Cuba.
Morales, 47, was last in Cuba to celebrate Castro's 80th birthday in August 2006. The bash, however, was postponed to December after Castro underwent intestinal surgery in July. Castro did not attend, but Morales did.
Castro, during Manh's visit, was seen in his first TV interview since he took ill, and appeared to be looking better, but made no mention of any eventual return to power.
"All I can tell my fellow countrymen is what I've already said, that I'm now doing what I have to do, nothing else. There's no secret. I can't put it more clearly," he said.
The Cuban leader has been recovering at an undisclosed location since he underwent gastrointestinal surgery and handed over power to his brother, defense chief Raul Castro, on July 31.
Cuban authorities for months described the handover as temporary, and lately have not addressed what may lie ahead for Fidel Castro.
Castro's closest allies in Latin America include Venezuela's leftist populist President Hugo Chavez, Morales, and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega.
According to Cuban officials, there are 5,600 Bolivians on higher education scholarships studying in Cuba, most of them enrolled in the country's medical school.
Morales, who has visited Cuba five times -- four as president between 2005 and 2006 -- openly admirers Castro, whom he calls the "wise grandfather."
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