By Brian Ellsworth Wed Jan 24, 8:00 PM ET
CARACAS (Reuters) - Cuba and Venezuela extended their ties on Wednesday
with a raft of economic accords, including an underwater fiber optics
cable plan meant to bypass a U.S. embargo, despite President
Fidel Castro being sidelined by illness.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuba's Vice President Carlos Lage
signed deals to develop a range of production projects involving nickel,
electricity and rice as well as the construction within two years of the
cable between the two Caribbean nations.
In his absence, the two officials still sought to give Castro center stage.
At the signing ceremony, Chavez from a letter he said his mentor Castro
wrote to him this week about the countries' integration deals, which
sustain their anti-U.S. alliance.
He showed the Cuban leader's signature and said it was evidence that
reports Castro was dying were false. Spanish newspaper El Pais reported
this month Castro's recovery has been complicated by a series of failed
surgeries.
"We are really pleased, Fidel, with the news that we have received about
your recovery," Chavez said. "Lage told me Fidel walked for I don't know
how many minutes yesterday (Tuesday). And he's walking more than I am,
almost trotting."
Lage said Castro would be around for "a long time to come" and joked he
would outlast his younger brother Raul Castro, who has been in charge of
the communist-run island after Fidel had stomach surgery last year.
Despite U.S. pressure, the country remained united during Castro's
illness, he added.
Castro, who took power in 1959, has not been seen in public since July.
Chavez, who opposes Washington on policies ranging from oil price to
free trade to democracy, increasingly favors ideological allies such as
Iran and Cuba in economic deals and is seeking to strip managing stakes
away from Western giants such as Chevron and Exxon Mobil.
Economists say Chavez's cheap oil props up the Cuban economy the way the
Soviet Union did before its collapse.
Venezuela's opposition regularly accuses Chavez of seeking to build a
second Cuba in Venezuela, citing his plans to create a single party and
nationalize major utility companies.
Although Chavez this month described himself as a communist after years
of denying it, he has also said he does not want to follow a Cuban model
and that he will tolerate criticism and stand aside if he loses an election.
"Cuba and Venezuela, our countries are in the vanguard," he said,
referring to the swing to the left across Latin America.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070125/pl_nm/venezuela_cuba_dc_1
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