fidel castro, the frail and aging former president of cuba, made his first public appearance this week in more than a year, shaking hands with a group of venezuelan visitors, according to official cuban media.









it was also his first public appearance since president obama announced a new policy toward normalizing relations with cuba.









the 88-year-old castro was last seen in public in january 2014 at the inauguration of an artist's studio.









the official cuban web site cubadebate on friday published four images of castro sitting inside a bus or van shaking hands with members of the 33-person group of visitors.









wearing a baseball cap and sporting longish gray hair and a beard, castro is shown gripping the outstretched hand of four different people who lean through the window. castro's face is largely obscured in the pictures.









cubadebate said the encounter occurred in havana outside an educational complex on march 30, but did not explain why the news wasn't reported until saturday.









castro temporarily stepped aside as president in july 2006 due to a serious illness. his brother raul took over the post permanently in february 2008 after he was elected as the new leader.









an article accompanying the photos said castro shook hands with the venezuelan group "for hours" during the "chance encounter." the article said the group noted that "fidel is full of vitality."









it said the venezuelans were impressed by his lengthy and hearty hand-shaking session and the "lucidity of the attentive listener to the multiple details of the venezuelan reality, especially now that this great nation has become the target of imperial greed."









in his remarks to the visitors, castro was quoted as urging people to write to president obama to stop labeling venezuela a threat to the the united states.









venezuela, under the late president hugo chavez, forged probably the closest ties with cuba of any country in latin america.









in february and march of this year, official cuban media published photographs of the former president taken during private meetings with a cuban student leader, with the cuban agents who were freed from prison in december, and with venezuelan president nicolas maduro, the associated press reported.
fidel castro makes rare public appearance in cuba
noauthor