Fidel Castro Reappears In Public Following 14 Month Absence

Retired Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has reemerged in public following a 14 month absence, engaging in an informal meeting with a delegation of Venezuelan students, Cuba's Granma has reported.

Granma published four photographs of the meeting, said to have taken place at a school in Havana, featuring the 88-year-old former world statesman, wearing a blue-and-white Adidas tracksuit and a black cap.

Castro met with 33 Venezuelan college students, part of a group of 155 Venezuelans invited to visit Cuban schools to take part in political and social educational activities on the island. Having greeted the students from inside his van, Castro is then said to have entered the school, talking with the school director and the organizers of the visit. Granma described the hour-and-a half conversation as a "casual, unforgettable encounter."

The newspaper added that the Venezuelans greeting Castro were impressed by the former leader's "lucidity and his attention to the details of what is happening in Venezuela," with Castro commenting on the difficult situation being faced by the country due to falling energy prices and alleged provocations by the United States.

Castro, the father of the Cuban revolution, and among the most visible leaders of the 20th century, left office in 2006 for health reasons, and has kept a low public profile ever since. The leader occasionally writes analysis and opinion columns for newspapers, and receives dignitaries for private consultation. The leader made his last public appearance over a year ago, in January, 2014, attending a gallery opening for a Cuban artist.

Cuba and the United States have recently announced their intention to normalize bilateral diplomatic relations, which had been frozen after the US imposed an embargo on the island nation in 1960.