Cuban President Fidel Castro's older brother Ramon said his brother is recovering well from surgery six months ago, joining his other brother Raul in a growing number of upbeat assessments of the ailing leader's health.
"He is doing very well, protected by the socialist saints!" a beaming 82-year-old Ramon Castro said Friday after lunch with Florida cattleman John Parke Wright, a good friend and frequent visitor to the island.
"Fidel is recovering well," added Ramon Castro, who looks remarkably like Fidel -- down to the now-wispy white beard.
"All of us brothers are very resilient."
Ramon Castro spent his life in agriculture and ranching and never held any major government positions.
His positive assessment came one day after his 75-year-old brother Raul, Cuba's defence minister and acting president, said of 80-year-old Fidel: "He's getting better each day."
"He's exercising much," he said in brief comments to the news media at the opening of an international book fair.
"He has a telephone at his side and uses it a lot."
Reporters had less luck earlier Friday seeking a statement about Castro's health from his son, Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart -- known as "Fidelito" -- who spoke at an international economics conference in Havana. He briefly greeted reporters and did not make any declaration about his father before leaving.
Castro's health condition, as well as his exact ailment, are a state secret. The leader stunned the country July 31 when he announced he had intestinal surgery and was provisionally ceding power to Raul -- long his constitutionally designated successor.
Cuban officials have denied past U.S. government reports that Castro has fatal cancer. A Spanish newspaper reported last month the leader had diverticular disease, a weakening of the walls of the colon common in older people and was in "grave" condition.
Evidently seeking to knock down that and other pessimistic reports about Castro's health, the Cuban government on Jan. 30 released a new video of the leader that showed him looking as if he had gained strength and weight.
In the video, Castro at one point was seen standing on his own during a visit by his good friend and political ally President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. He also was seen drinking juice.
Castro had looked far more gaunt and pale during a video released by the government in late October.
In recent days, Chavez and some Cuban officials have made encouraging assessments about Castro's health. Venezuela's ambassador to Cuba, Ali Rodriguez Araque, said earlier Thursday that Castro had resumed eating after a long period of being unable to ingest solid foods.
