Argentina: president meets Fidel Castro in Cuba

[Judi Lynn]

Jan 21, 3:13 PM EST
Argentina: president meets Fidel Castro in Cuba
By MAYRA PERTOSSI
Associated Press Writer

BUENOS AIRES (AP) -- Argentina's government says President Cristina Fernandez has met with Cuba's ailing former leader Fidel Castro, who had been rumored to be seriously ill.

A spokesman for Argentina's Foreign Ministry says the 30-minute meeting happened Wednesday during Fernandez's visit to Havana. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the issue.

He says the talks touched on the "the new reality in the United States with the inauguration of Obama," referring to new U.S. President Barack Obama.

Rumors that Castro is ill - or worse - have been fed by the fact he has not published any newspaper columns since Dec. 15. and by comments by ally Hugo Chavez that he may not be seen in public again.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_CUBA_FIDEL_CASTRO?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-01-21-15-13-25

[Judi Lynn]

1. Argentina's president meets Fidel Castro in Cuba

Jan 21, 3:54 PM EST
Argentina's president meets Fidel Castro in Cuba
By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ
Associated Press Writer

HAVANA (AP) -- Argentine President Cristina Fernandez met with Cuba's ailing former leader Fidel Castro on Wednesday, easing rumors that his health had badly deteriorated. Castro looked well and spoke about new U.S. President Barack Obama, Fernandez told reporters before leaving the Cuban capital, Havana.

"I was with Fidel about an hour. we talked a lot about Obama," Fernandez told reporters at Havana's airport. "He had a very good impression of Obama and he seemed to believe what he said."

"Fidel believes in Obama," she added.

More:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_CUBA_FIDEL_CASTRO?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-01-21-15-13-25

[Judi Lynn]

2. Argentine prez: Fidel Castro `believes in Obama'

Argentine prez: Fidel Castro `believes in Obama'
By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ
Associated Press Writer

HAVANA — Fidel Castro watched the U.S. inauguration on television and said Wednesday that Barack Obama seems "like a man who is absolutely sincere," Argentina's president said after meeting with the ailing Cuban icon.

"Fidel believes in Obama," Cristina Fernandez said.

The meeting with Fernandez, just before she ended a four-day visit to Cuba, dispelled persistent rumors that the 82-year-old Castro had suffered a stroke or lapsed into a coma in recent days.

"I was with Fidel about an hour or more," she told reporters at the airport as she left. "We were chatting, conversing. He looked good."

Hours later, Castro issued his own account of the meeting in a brief essay that called Obama "honest" in his ideas.

Fernandez said Castro wore the track suit that has become his trademark since he fell ill in July 2006 and vanished from public view. A spokesman said the two met alone.

"He told me he had followed the inauguration of Barack Obama very closely, that he had watched the inauguration on television all day," Fernandez said. "He had a very good perception of President Obama."

Fernandez said Castro called Obama "a man who seems absolutely sincere," who believes strongly in his ideas "and who hopefully can carry them out."

More:
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/Latin_America_And_Caribbean/LT_Cuba_Fidel_Castro.html