Hugo Chavez Is Improving, Fidel Castro Says

HAVANA — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s condition is improving, says Cuba’s retired leader Fidel Castro.

Hugo Chavez is getting “much better” after undergoing a fourth cancer operation in December, according to comments by Fidel Castro published Monday in Cuban newspapers.

Fidel Castro spoke to official media Sunday at a Havana polling station to cast his vote in the elections. He said he receives daily updates on Hugo Chavez’s condition.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Hugo Chavez had called off the New Years Eve festivities due to his condition.

According to the Washington Post, Fidel Castro said:

“He is much better, recovering. It has been a tough struggle, but he has been improving. We have to cure him. Chavez is very important for his country and for Latin America.”

Hugo Chavez has not been seen or heard from in public since his December 11 surgery in Cuba, missing his inauguration on January 10 for a new term as president. Officials have not disclosed details about his condition other than to say that it was in the pelvic region, leading to rumors of many kinds.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, US actor Sean Penn had praised the ailing Hugo Chavez at his vigil.

According to the Huffington Post, Fidel Castro has also rarely been seen since a grave intestinal illness forced him to resign in 2006. His last public appearance was October 2012 when he showed up with a top Venezuelan official at a Havana hotel. At the time he squashed rumors that he was supposedly at death’s door.

The retired Cuban leader reportedly chatted with the media for an hour and a half Sunday, walking slowly and cautiously up a ramp. Foreign journalists were forbidden to participate.

Are you encouraged to know Fidel Castro reported Hugo Chavez’s condition is improving?

Isn’t Fidel Castro one step away from death and he’s commenting on Hugo Chavez’s health? Oh.

— lance dopestrong (@ThroatChopU) February 4, 2013