Cuba marks half-year without Fidel Castro in power by releasing new images

Wednesday, January 31st 2007, 5:49 am

By: News On 6

HAVANA (AP) _ Cubans lined up Wednesday to buy newspapers featuring photographs of a stronger-looking Fidel Castro, with the communist government eager to show he is recovering after a half-year out of power even though a new collective leadership has taken firm control.

``Here's Fidel, Standing Tall,'' read the headline of the Communist Youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde, whose front page was dominated by a photograph of Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez taken during a Monday visit.

Inside pages carried more photos of the previously unpublicized visit reported by state television Tuesday night with the first video images of the ailing 80-year-old released in three months. The Communist Party daily Granma on Wednesday also featured prominent coverage of the meeting.

In the new images, repeated by state television Wednesday, Castro looked as if he had gained weight and some strength. The last video clip of Castro, aired on Oct. 28, showed him much thinner and frailer.

But there was no sense that Castro was ready to resume the power he provisionally ceded to his brother Raul Castro, the 75-year-old defense minister, in late July.

It seemed to be enough to simply prove that Castro was still alive and improving following his emergency intestinal surgery last summer.

``This also is far from being a lost battle,'' said Castro, dressed in a red, white and blue track suit.

He noted that when his intestinal problems struck last summer he was still not fully recovered from an October 2004 fall that severely injured a knee and a shoulder.

The communist-run government has kept Castro's condition and exact ailment secret, leading to continuous speculation among Cubans on the island and his foes in exile that he was gravely ill _ even dying.

Cuban authorities have continued to insist that Castro is recovering, and have denied reports by U.S. intelligence officials that he had terminal cancer.

They also privately scoffed at a recent report in the Spanish newspaper El Pais that Castro was in ``very grave'' condition after three failed operations and complications from diverticular disease, an intestinal ailment common among older people.

Nevertheless, Cuban officials stopped insisting weeks ago that the bearded guerrilla leader would return to power.

Some of Castro's detractors in South Florida said the images only reinforced their belief that his health condition is serious.

``He's obviously sick,'' said Orlando Gutierrez, co-founder of the Miami-based Cuban Democratic Directorate, which supports dissidents on the island. ``Even if this guy returns to power formally, he won't have the energy or health to rule as he did before.''

Since Castro fell ill, the nation has been governed by his brother Raul and a team of top leaders that includes Vice President and Cabinet Secretary Carlos Lage.