Castro 'could return to work soon'
Fidel Castro is recovering from his illness and "could return to work
soon," Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said last night.
Perez Roque and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a close friend of
Castro who visited the communist leader recently in Cuba, have said
repeatedly that Castro is improving after gastrointestinal surgery in July.
The foreign minister's comments follow a growing number of positive
assessments about Castro's health from officials and family members.
National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon also indicated recently that
Castro could eventually return to some kind of public leadership role
but without spending "so many hours making appearances and visits."
"We are optimistic because Fidel has won" the fight against his illness
"and could return to work soon," Perez Roque told a news conference
yesterday, the second day of a two-day visit to Honduras aimed at
strengthening bilateral relations and signing cooperation agreements for
health and education.
"I can't give an exact date for when he could go back to work," he
added. "That will happen when he has satisfactorily concluded his
recovery period."
The foreign minister did not elaborate, leaving open the question of
whether the 80-year-old Castro might take a less prominent role while
leaving his 75-year-old brother Raul Castro, the defense minister, in
charge.
His comments followed a surprise call by Castro to Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez's radio talk show in the leader's first live comments since
his surgery. The call fueled expectations that Castro could soon
reappear in public.
Previously, only pre-recorded video images of Castro, including several
in which he spoke, have been released by the Cuban government in an
apparent attempt to quell speculation that he was deathly ill.
Cuba has remained calm and functioned normally in the seven months since
the man who ruled the island for 47 years temporarily ceded power to
Raul Castro.
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0302/breaking12.htm
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