[NYTr] BBC: Castro speaks live on Chavez show

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

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BBC - Oct 14, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7043701.stm

Castro speaks live on Chavez show

Cuban President Fidel Castro has spoken live on television for the first
time since handing over power last year as he underwent a serious
operation.

Mr Castro spoke by phone on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's weekly
chat show, being broadcast from Cuba.

Mr Chavez is in the country to mark the 40th anniversary of the killing
of revolutionary icon Ernesto Che Guevara.

Mr Castro phoned to discuss the Guevara legacy, and the two leaders
laughed and joked together for several minutes.

Video footage from a meeting between Mr Chavez and the Cuban leader,
said to have been filmed on Saturday, was also shown during the
programme.

'Father of revolutionaries'

The BBC's Duncan Kennedy in Havana said Mr Castro's voice was strong and
he sounded like he was on the road to recovery.

Mr Castro has not appeared in public since surgery forced him to cede
power to his brother, Raul, last year.

In the video footage, Mr Chavez is seen singing hymns to Mr Castro and
calling him "father of all revolutionaries".

The Cuban leader said he was moved by the tribute, and went on to praise
Che Guevara as a "harvester of ideas".

After the tape was aired, Mr Chavez spoke to Mr Castro on the phone and
told him: "Everyone is electrified to hear you."

The programme was broadcast from Guevara mausoleum in the Cuban city of
Santa Clara.

In September, pictures of Mr Castro were broadcast on Cuban TV, ending
rumours that he had died or suffered a major relapse.