Amid health speculations, photos of Cuba’s Fidel Castro emerge

The silence of Fidel Castro after the historic announcement that US-Cuba relations will be restored added to speculation that he was sick, or had died.

Former Cuban president Fidel Castro talks to the president of Cuba's University Students Federation Randy Perdomo during a meeting in Havana. State media published the pictures after intense speculation about the health of the former leader. Cubadebate/Handout via ReutersShow less

HAVANA // Cuban state media released the first photographs of former president Fidel Castro in nearly six months in a bid to quell rumours of his failing health.

The images, released late on Monday, showed the 88-year-old Castro at his home along with his wife Dalia meeting the leader of a students’ union.

Speculation over Mr Castro’s health has intensified since the historic announcement in December that the US and Cuba were going to restore diplomatic relations after a half century of enmity stemming from the Cold War.

Mr Castro went silent after the announcement until finally commenting a week ago, when he offered lukewarm support for the pact his younger brother and current president, Raul Castro reached with President Barack Obama.

That silence prompted chatter on social media and in foreign media that Mr Castro was sick or even had died.

The pictures of Castro with student leader Randy Perdomo were taken on January 23, according to Mr Perdomo's account, which appeared with the photos on the website of the Communist Party newspaper Granma on Monday night.

The Granma article said that their meeting came four days before Mr Castro finally broke his silence on the diplomatic breakthrough with the US and said that, although he was wary of his old enemy Washington, he did not oppose it and viewed the historic change as a "positive step".

The last time he was seen in public was January last year when he attended an art gallery opening near his home.

* Agence France-Presse and Reuters