Castro makes television appearance
The ailing leader has not been seen in public since July
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Saturday, 22, Sep 2007 10:47
Cuban leader Fidel Castro has given his first television interview for three months in which he has insisted that he is in good health.
The ailing revolutionary, who appointed his brother as acting president during his recovery, has not appeared in public since July.
In the television interview, Mr Castro spoke about recent events such as the publication of former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan's book and the weakening of the dollar against the euro.
In addition to his criticism of US policy, the Cuban leader who seized power in 1959, also answered questions about his health.
Mr Castro said: "Well, I'm still here. And if they say I'm dying, or have died, or I'm going to die the day after tomorrow, well, no-one knows when they're going to die."
Even though the stern critic of the United States has been writing regular articles for the state newspaper in Cuba, there has still been speculation about his health due to the absence of new pictures of him.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who is a close friend of the ailing Cuban head of state, has been informing the world about his health in the meantime.
Commenting on the interview, Mr Chavez said Mr Castro had been through several blood transfusions and could "live 100 more years."
"They changed nearly all his blood. Fidel is alive because he is Fidel," the fellow socialist leader added.
Cuba's foreign minister Felipe Perez Roque said that Mr Castro had been involved in academic activities during his sickness and that he continued to be consulted on the country's main decisions.