Castro comeback after radio chat

After hearing his unmistakable voice in a good-humoured chat played on state television, many Cubans are now convinced Fidel Castro is no longer at death's door and could even return to lead them.

The 80-year-old revolutionary, who has not been seen in public for seven months, unexpectedly called in to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's radio talk show on Tuesday night, telling his closest ally he feels stronger and more energetic.

It was Gen. Castro's first live broadcast since he fell ill and their chat was quickly played on Cuban state television, reassuring supporters that he is bouncing back.

"Everyone is so happy. He sounds very well. We had begun to think he was dying and slowly he is recovering," said Gertrudis Oliveira, a teacher in Santiago, Cuba's second city. "He is almost back to being the Fidel we were used to."

Gen. Castro was forced to hand over power temporarily to his brother and designated successor, Defence Minister Raul Castro, last July after undergoing emergency intestinal surgery.

His prolonged absence cast uncertainty over the Western Hemisphere's only communist society and raised hopes of economic reforms if not political change under Raul Castro.