AFP: Fidel Castro took a walk in Havana? (French).

The French AFP news agency quotes Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez as saying that former Cuban president Fidel Castro recently took a walk through Havana. Click here for full story

Cuba: Newspaper chief is new Venezuela ambasssador

Cuba named the director of a Communist Party-run newspaper as its next ambassador to Caracas on Wednesday, replacing a longtime envoy to a country that has become a key ally under Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

Rogelio Polanco Fuentes directs the newspaper Juventud Rebelde and is a deputy in the National Assembly, Cuba's parliament.

His predecessor, German Sanchez Otero, often defended Chávez against his Venezuelan opposition, including during a brief 2002 coup.

Photos, video show a healthier Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro is back -- on Cuba's front pages, at least.

Cuba's state media have published a flurry of photographs and a video of the former president in recent days, accompanied by assurances that his health has improved since he fell gravely ill in 2006. He's been seen welcoming Latin American presidents, students and church leaders.

Earlier photos had accustomed Cubans to seeing a gaunt-looking man seated or in bed, often receiving his close ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

Venezuela's Hugo Chávez rejects pending Summit of the Americas declaration

Venezuela ''will veto'' the final declaration due to be issued by this weekend's Fifth Summit of the Americas in neighboring Trinidad and Tobago, President Hugo Chávez said Thursday.

Chávez, who was in the eastern Venezuelan city of Cumaná for a pre-summit meeting with his closest allies -- including Cuba's Raúl Castro -- said the communique had been drafted, ``as if time had not passed.''

The summit in Port of Spain is seen as an opportunity for President Barack Obama's administration to begin to repair Washington's relations with Latin America and the Caribbean, which reached a low point under former President George W Bush.

Obama and Hugo Chávez start sparring early

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama recently said that Venezuela's firebrand president, Hugo Chávez, has hindered progress in Latin America, and he expressed concern that Chávez's leftist government has assisted Colombia's biggest guerrilla movement. Chávez responded this weekend by saying that Obama had "the same stench" as President Bush. Click here for full story