Castro does not have cancer, says Chavez

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez has denied that Fidel Castro has cancer and said the ailing Cuban leader was eating and felt well enough to make an anti-Bush joke.

Castro’s medical condition is being kept a state secret and Cuban officials insist he is recovering. But America believes he suffers from some kind of inoperable cancer and will not live through the end of 2007.

“Fidel does not have cancer. I’m very well-informed ... he has instructed them to inform me of all the details of what is happening,” Chavez said during a speech in Caracas yesterday.

Castro, 80, has not been seen publicly since July, when he temporarily handed power over to his younger brother Raul so he could recover from intestinal surgery.

Chavez reiterated previous comments that the recuperation was going slowly and that Castro was fighting “a great battle” for his health after suffering what he described as a “serious illness”.

“Nobody knows when Fidel is going to die,” Chavez said.

“We are very optimist. Yesterday, I found him to be in a very good mood, well enough to compare my parrots to (US president George) Bush,” Chavez added, describing how Castro had told him the pets were more talkative than their “northern neighbour”.

Chavez said Castro “is eating little by little” and that he planned to send him one of his favourite treats, Venezuelan chocolate.

Chavez did not give any further details on Castro’s health, but said they had spoken twice on Thursday and discussed a series of new projects between Venezuela and Cuba, including plans to jointly explore for oil.