Castro reappears in press article ahead of May 1 holiday

May 1, 2007, 5:47 GMT

Havana - Ailing Cuban President Fidel Castro published a press article Tuesday slamming US intentions to boost the use of ethanol alongside Brazil, but not mentioning his health or revealing whether he will reappear during May Day festivities.

It is the fourth article to come out in a bit more than a month singed by Castro, 80, who temporarily delegated powers in his brother Raul nine months ago to recover from stomach surgery.

Castro also received a top-ranking envoy from Chinese President Hu Jintao on April 21. All these signs have prompted speculation in Havana and abroad that he might soon be reappearing in public and slowly begin reassuming some duties of office.

Last weekend, Bolivian president Evo Morales assured that Castro would reassume power on Tuesday, but neither Cuban officials nor Castro's main ally in Latin America, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, have confirmed it.

In the new 'reflexions' - as they are referred to in the Cuban press - Castro also repteated his criticism of the US decision to release on bail radical anti-Castro activist Luis Posada Carriles.

The Cuban leader has not appeared in public since last July 26. Information on his health remains a state secret.

Cuba was scheduled to celebrate this May 1 with big parades in the main cities of the island, in which millions of Cubans were expected to reaffirm their loyalty to the Cuban revolution and denounce the US for freeing Carriles.