From the Washington Post newspaper
HAVANA – Bolivian President Evo Morales made a surprise half-day visit to Cuba on Wednesday to visit convalescing Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Cuban television said.
Morales spent two hours with Castro, who is recovering from emergency surgery to stop intestinal bleeding which forced him to cede power temporarily to his younger brother on July 31.
He is the second leader to visit the bed-ridden Castro. Venezuela's left-wing president Hugo Chavez, Castro's closest ally, has visited him three times.
Morales, an indigenous leader who rose from Bolivia's coca farmers movement to the presidency, lunched with Raul Castro and met with Bolivians studying medicine in Cuba before departing for La Paz on Wednesday evening.
Morales said he would be back in Havana next week for the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement of 116 developing nations.
It is not certain whether Fidel Castro will be able to host the summit, but he said on Tuesday he would receive visiting dignitaries in private. Cuba expects some 50 heads of state or governments to attend.
Photos released on Tuesday showed a gaunt-looking Castro reading and writing in a rocking chair in his pajamas.
In a message to the Cuban people, Castro said he had lost 41 pounds (18.6 kg) in a few days after undergoing surgery for an undisclosed medical condition. Cuban officials have denied that he has cancer.
Castro, 80, said his recovery would take a long time.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/06/AR2006090601737.html
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