Castro looks strong in rare video image

Fidel Castro looked stronger Sunday in the first images the government has released of him in months, showing him in a brief videotape and four photographs meeting with the visiting Vietnamese Communist Party chief.

In the video clip shown on state television, and four photographs of his two-hour meeting with Nong Duc Manh published Sunday in the Communist youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde, Castro appeared to be wearing the same red track suit with black and white trim that he wore in some of the past images released by the government.

In one photograph, the pair is seen sitting on rattan chairs and chatting, and in the other three they are standing, including one that shows them embracing.

The 80-year-old Castro has not been seen in public since he announced on July 31 that he had undergone emergency intestinal surgery and was temporarily ceding power to his brother Raul, the Defense Minister, who turns 76 on Sunday.

Castro's exact ailment and condition remain state secrets, but he is largely believed to suffer from diverticular disease, which forms sacs in the colon that can become inflamed and bleed.

In one of a new series of essays he has been writing during his convalescence, Castro said he had undergone numerous operations and the first one had not gone well, explaining why his recovery has been delayed.

Nevertheless, senior Cuban officials have repeatedly said Castro is on the mend and the government has occasionally released photographs and videotapes during his recovery.

The video was the the first of Castro released by the government since a meeting in Havana in late January with his friend and ally Hugo Chavez; the photos were the first released since he met with the Chinese Communist Party leader Wu Guanzheng in April.

The meeting between the Cuban and Vietnamese leaders was first reported by state television Saturday night on the regular news broadcast, but the images were not released until hours later.

The statement said Castro and Manh met for two hours, discussing themes "of mutual interest and especially about Latin America and the Caribbean."