Castro 'walking, talking and working'

Cuban leader Fidel Castro is sitting up, walking, talking and even working a little during his recovery from the surgery that forced him to step aside temporarily as president, the Communist Party’s newspaper said today.

The report on the front page of the Granma newspaper was the most optimistic report so far on the Cuban leader since his announcement at the end of July that he had undergone intestinal surgery and was temporarily ceding his powers to his brother Raul, the No 2 in the government.

“Firm Like a Caguarian,” the headline of the story read, comparing Castro to a hardwood tropical tree native to eastern Cuba.

“A friend tells us that just a few hours ago, upon visiting the Comandante who was briefly dispatching some business, he witnessed some good news that he enthusiastically summed up in one sentence: ‘The caguairan has risen,”’ the paper said in a three-paragraph report.

“He said that he could appreciate how the Chief of the Revolution, after receiving a little physical therapy, took some steps in his room and then, seated in a chair, conversed animatedly,” it said, without identifying the friend.