MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fidel: Argentina and Brazil “life-jackets” for Latam economy

Lula visited Castro in hospital and joked about the Cuban leader comeback

Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who remains in a convalescent state hospitalized in Havana because of gastrointestinal problems, wrote an essay which became public yesterday where he stated that Argentina and Brazil could “be the life-jackets” of the Latin America region's economy, because of their production of meat and cereals.

One day after he received a visit from Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the media in the Caribbean island published an essay written by Castro in which he explains that he is not physically able to speak directly to the citizens, thus he decided to write to them. Making a forecast of the future development of the global economy, Castro stated that it is logical that the growth in the income of the world population will generate more demand for proteins and cereals, which will boost the economies of Argentina and Brazil, producers of those products, which may "save Latin-America, Mexico included" he said. Castro, 81, has not been seen in public since July 2006, when emergency intestinal surgery forced him to cede power to a provisional government headed by his younger brother Raúl, five years his junior. On Tuesday night, photos of Lula's visit to Castro were published. After the meeting that lasted for two and a half hours, the Brazilian president said that Castro is "ready to resume a political role in Cuba and the world". Buenos Aires Herald