AFP, Havana :
Cuban state media released the first photographs of former president Fidel Castro in nearly six months in a bid to quiet rumors that his health is failing.
The images showed the 88-year-old Castro at his home along with his wife Dalia during a meeting with the leader of a students’ union, and were published in the state-run newspaper Granma and other official media.
Castro had remained quiet publicly after the United States and Cuba announced in December that they were going to restore diplomatic relations after a half century of enmity stemming from the Cold War.
That silence prompted chatter on social media and in foreign media that Castro was sick or even had died.
The article accompanying the new photos said the meeting took place January 23. The headline says, “Fidel is extraordinary.” The photos show Castro wearing a blue sweat-suit with a blue-checked collared shirt.
The images come after weeks of feverish speculation concerning the Cuban revolutionary leader’s medical condition after he disappeared from the public eye.
