Castro spent several days close to death - Chavez

CARACAS, March 24 (Reuters) - Cuban leader Fidel Castro spent several days on the point of death, but is now out of his sickbed, his close friend and protege Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday.

A Cuban government minister said on Tuesday the 80-year-old Castro was recovering well from his emergency intestinal surgery in July and could soon return to a more active role in running the country.

"When Fidel was in bed -- now he is not in bed -- he was in a pretty delicate state of health," Chavez told a crowd at an event to celebrate the single ruling party he is forging.

Chavez said he had told Castro at his bedside he could not die.

"But there he was, in danger of dying for quite a few days, and he said, 'Chavez, I can die now, stop worrying about me, the one who cannot die is you!"

It was not immediately clear which of his visits to Cuba Chavez was referring to.
Castro who handed power to his brother Raul Castro after his surgery, was recently heard speaking on the telephone with Chavez but has yet to make a reappearance in public.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N24262668.htm


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