Chile's Bachelet Meets With Fidel Castro
By VOA News 12 February 2009

Chile's President Michelle Bachelet (l) and Cuba's Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque at a monument to former Chilean President Salvador Allende in Havana, 12 Feb 2009

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has met with Cuba's ailing former leader Fidel Castro as she continues her three-day visit to the communist-led island.

Ms. Bachelet met with the 82-year-old former president Thursday for about 90 minutes, telling reporters later that he was in very good condition. She said Mr. Castro was very active and knew the most important details about a range of topics.

Ms. Bachelet is the latest foreign leader to visit the former president. He has not been seen publicly since undergoing intestinal surgery in July 2006 and handing power to his brother, Raul, who is now the president.

Ms. Bachelet's trip to Cuba is the first by a Chilean leader since socialist president Salvador Allende went to the island in 1972.

Last month, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner met with Fidel Castro when she visited the Caribbean island