Acting Cuban President Raul Castro said his ailing brother Fidel is getting better, performing exercises and is still consulted on all important governmental issues.

From his sickbed, Fidel Castro has set the stage for a more collective style of governance in a country long used to a single strongman, selecting six trusted comrades to run key projects while his younger brother Raul acts as president and head of the Communist Party.

Cuban foreign minister Felipe Perez Roque says US president George Bush should not attend the Summit of the Americas in Argentina this weekend, because he was neither liked nor respected in Latin America.

Fidel Castro has fallen during a live televised speech before a rally of tens of thousands of people.