Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said that his ailing friend Fidel Castro is recovering and has been up and walking in recent days.
Mr Chavez said he was pleased to hear from Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage that the 80-year-old Cuban leader was making a recovery.
Mr Lage, after meeting with Mr Chavez, said: "We will have Fidel and we will have Raul for a lot more time."
Their remarks came less than a week after Mr Chavez said Castro was "battling for his life."
Mr Chavez said yesterday: "Lage told me that Fidel walked, I don't know how many minutes, yesterday . . . He's walking more than me, almost jogging. Maybe he's walking while watching us [on television]."
Mr Chavez has regularly reported in generalities on Castro's health since July 31st, when the Cuban leader announced he was temporarily stepping aside while he recovered from an operation and was provisionally ceding power to his brother Raul.
AP