Medvedev meets Castro in Cuba

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met former Cuban leader Fidel Castro yesterday as Moscow rebuilt ties with an old Cold War ally during a trip to strengthen its political and economic clout in Latin America.

The meeting came at the end of Mr Medvedev's tour of the region, which has been seen as an attempt by Russia to taunt Washington in its traditional backyard as well as boost Moscow's trade with the region.

"This has been a great visit, a magnificent visit, and now he is going to see Fidel," Cuban President and Fidel's brother, Raul Castro, told reporters after Mr Medvedev laid flowers at a monument to the Soviet era.

Mr Medvedev had travelled from Venezuela, where he and anti-US leader President Hugo Chavez oversaw joint naval exercises as tensions between Moscow and Washington simmer over US missile defence plans in Europe and Russia's brief war with Georgia.

Moscow was Havana's main benefactor during the Cold War but the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union battered Cuba's economy. Ties soured further after then-President Vladimir Putin closed Russia's Lourdes intelligence base on the island in 2001.

Fidel Castro, 82, who ruled Cuba for 49 years before Raul became President in February, has not been seen in public since undergoing surgery in July 2006. But he writes regular newspaper columns and meets with foreign leaders.

No photographs or television images were immediately available of his meeting with Mr Medvedev, but the two men talked for more than an hour, the Kremlin said.

US officials say they have been monitoring Moscow's moves in Latin America but do not consider them threatening.