 | Pic of Chavez poster in Hezbollahland copyright Michael Totten, who is doing some damn fine reporting from Lebanon. | Do you get the feeling we're being prepared for something? | The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, yesterday offered the bleakest medical update yet on Fidel Castro, saying he was "battling for his life". The pessimistic view came days after Mr Chávez, who is one of Castro's closest allies, and who speaks with him regularly, had said his recovery was slow and not without risks.
Mr Chávez, attending a summit of Latin American leaders in Brazil, said he had spoken to the Cuban leader in the past few days. He compared his condition to the difficult days in the run-up to the 1959 revolution when he was a guerrilla leader in Cuba's Sierra Maestra. "Fidel is in the Sierra Maestra again, battling for his life," said Mr Chávez. |