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Chavez denies Castro cancer claim Castro call cheers Cuba officials
(about 14 hours later)
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has dismissed suggestions that Cuban leader and ally Fidel Castro has cancer, but said he was fighting a serious illness. Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro has spoken to Communist Party officials by phone, the party newspaper Granma says.
Mr Chavez said that Fidel Castro was struggling with "a great battle" but denied the illness was terminal. This is the first official news about Mr Castro for 11 days. Granma gave no details about his state of health.
The Venezuelan leader said he had spoken twice on the telephone with Mr Castro who was in good spirits. The veteran leader handed over control to his brother Raul in July, when he underwent urgent intestinal surgery.
Earlier, US director of National Intelligence John Negroponte said Mr Castro was very ill and close to death. On Friday Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez - an ally of Fidel Castro - dismissed growing speculation that the Cuban leader had cancer.
Mr Chavez said he had spoken with his friend on the phone and denied the illness was terminal.
The Granma article said Mr Castro - who is 80 - had spoken to provincial leaders, who reacted with jubilant applause when they received the call.
The Cuban leader has not been seen in public for four months, and few details have emerged on his condition.
State secret
The BBC's Stephen Gibbs in Havana says an increasing number of Cubans believe that whatever Fidel Castro's health might be, he seems unlikely to return to power.
Earlier, US director of National Intelligence John Negroponte said Mr Castro was close to death.
"Everything we see indicates that it will not be much longer... months, not years," he told the Washington Post."Everything we see indicates that it will not be much longer... months, not years," he told the Washington Post.
Optimistic Mr Castro's last appearance on Cuban TV, looking frail and wearing a tracksuit rather than his trademark military fatigues, was in late October.
Although he did not say that Mr Castro's health was improving, as he has indicated in earlier speeches, Mr Chavez said he was optimistic about his ally.
"Some comments have come out, that Fidel has a terminal cancer - Fidel does not have cancer," Mr Chavez said.
"We have a lot of faith that those 80 years will become 90, 100 years," he added.
Eighty-year-old Mr Castro temporarily handed over power to his younger brother in July following intestinal surgery and has not been seen in public since.
His last appearance on Cuban TV, looking frail and wearing pyjamas rather than his trademark military fatigues, was in late October.
Cubans were told that details of the ailment would be kept secret to prevent Cuba's enemies from taking advantage of them.Cubans were told that details of the ailment would be kept secret to prevent Cuba's enemies from taking advantage of them.
The US broke official ties with Cuba following Mr Castro's rise to power in 1959 and has had an economic embargo in place against the island since 1960.The US broke official ties with Cuba following Mr Castro's rise to power in 1959 and has had an economic embargo in place against the island since 1960.