Video shows a healthier-looking Castro

HAVANA, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- New video and a photograph of Communist leader Fidel Castro revealed a healthier-looking former Cuban president than in previous photos, officials said.

In the first video of Castro broadcast in at least a year, state-run Cubavision showed footage of him Sunday. It said the film was taken the day before when the former leader met with Venezuelan law students, CNN reported.

On Friday, a photo published in Cuba's state-run youth newspaper, Juventud Rebelde, showed Castro, 83, meeting with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa.

Another photo of the former Cuban president was released Aug. 13 by Pastors For Peace, an advocacy group based in the United States that recently traveled to the island nation to push for an end to the trade embargo.

Castro, who rose to power in 1959, underwent abdominal surgery in 2006. He turned over the presidency to his younger brother, Raul, in 2008, but remains the leader of the Communist Party in Cuba.

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