MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bachelet finds Fidel Castro “very active and very agile”

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro met with visiting Chilean President Michelle Bachelet on Thursday said she found him “very active and in good condition” and “very much interested in Chilean affairs”.

"He is in very good condition," Bachelet told reporters in Havana following the 90 minutes meeting, adding he was "as always, Fidel Castro, very interested in the themes of Chile, handling a lot of information, statistics, interested to know the performance in areas that have been successful, like the development of grape growing and wine, the development of our economy," she said. Bachelet, who is a doctor, also said Castro was "very agile" and "active". She said they had an interesting exchange about the region's challenges and the current situation in Latinamerica under the current international recessive context. Castro, 82 underwent surgery for an undisclosed intestinal ailment in July 2006 and has stayed out of sight since then except for a few photos and videos in which he has at times appeared frail. However in the last few weeks and in spite of rumours about his condition he has met with three South American presidents: Tabare Vazquez from Uruguay, Argentina's Cristina Kirchner and now Ms. Bachelet. Younger brother Raul Castro formally replaced Fidel as president a year ago, but Fidel Castro has continued to meet behind closed doors with visiting foreign leaders and write columns for Cuba's state-run media. The privilege was not extended to recent visitors Ecuador's Rafael Correa and Panama's Martin Torrijos, and no reasons were given. Castro was a close ally of leftist Chilean Socialist President Salvador Allende before his death in a September 11, 1973 coup led by General Augusto Pinochet, who instituted free market economic policies anathema to Castro's socialist beliefs. Bachelet, whose three-day visit ends on Friday, is the first Chilean president to go to Cuba since Allende visited in 1972. As the previous Latinamerican leaders to visit the island, Ms. Bachelet made a strong appeal against the 47-year-old US trade embargo on Cuba, saying it had "always seriously affected living conditions of the Cuban people, and in particular during the current (global economic) crisis." US President Barack Obama has said he would relax the embargo but not eliminate it until Cuba takes steps toward political and economic reform. He has raised hopes for change by saying he is open to dialogue with Cuban leaders, who have in turn indicated their willingness to meet with him.