Castro receives Chavez

Cuba's ailing Fidel Castro received a bedside visit from his main ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the Communist Party newspaper Granma said yesterday, as it published pictures of the two leftist leaders.

The daily said Castro, who temporarily ceded power to his younger brother Raul Castro on July 31 due to surgery for intestinal bleeding, spent more than three hours with Chavez on Sunday in what a headline called "An Unforgettable Afternoon Among Brothers."

Granma said the leaders, united in the "joy of a deep friendship," shared gifts, anecdotes, laughter and a frugal snack as they marked Castro's 80th birthday.

President Chavez, who has helped Cuba recover from the collapse of its former benefactor, the Soviet Union, by providing cheap oil and billions of dollars for Cuban doctors, was given a portrait of Castro done by Mexican artist David Alfaro Siqueiros in 1959, the year he seized power.

"This is the best of all the visits I've ever made," Mr Chavez was quoted as saying.

Chavez's presents to Castro included a dagger with a marble handle and scabbard that belonged to South American independence hero and Venezuelan patriot Simon Bolivar.

Mr Chavez, according to Granma, was impressed by Castro's recovery. "What kind of human being is this? What's he made of? Is he, as you say, a caguairan?" asked Mr Chavez, referring to a hardwood tree from eastern Cuba known for its strength.

In one photo, Castro lay in bed in what looked like a hospital room. The two men, fierce critics of US policies in Latin America, wore bright red shirts. The pictures were posted on Granma's website (http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu).