Unforgettable Afternoon among Brothers

As announced Saturday, when he launched his presidential reelection campaign, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez arrived to Havana on Sunday to celebrate Fidel Castro’s 80th birthday.
Interim President Raul Castro met Chavez at the airport with a hug that symbolized the warmth of the Cuban people and their appreciation of a friend who has demonstrated his great compassion and solidarity.
Fidel awaited Chavez in his hospital bed where he is recovering from surgery. The two leaders —close personal friends—, spent more than three hours together in an emotional meeting, exchanging anecdotes, laughs, photographs, gifts and a snack.


"This is the best visit I’ve made in my life," said the Venezuelan president. Amazed by Fidel’s ability to recover he said: "What kind of a human being is this? What is he made of? It’s like you say, of Caguairan," (an especially resistant hard wood tree found in Cuba).
Chavez told Fidel that he had wanted to surprise him and spent a week trying to paint a portrait of him, but finally gave up in the early hours of the 13, unsatisfied with his drawing of Fidel’s nose. Instead he gave Fidel a painting by Jose Antonio Quinerto, a young Venezuelan artist, along with a bowl from the dinnerware of Napoleon collected by South American liberator Simon Bolivar and Bolivar’s dagger.
Raul Castro gave Chavez a portrait of Fidel made in 1959 by Mexican painter David Alfaro Siquieros, which for some time hung in his office at the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces.
It was an unforgettable afternoon, shared by brothers of blood and cause, bringing strength and new inspiration to the battle-hardened commander of a thousand clashes, committed to obtaining a new victory for life.