HAVANA, Dec 25: Ailing Cuban President Fidel Castro remains mentally active and is consulted on major decisions despite some physical limitations, his brother and stand-in leader Raul Castro has said.

Speaking on Monday while on a visit to his constituency in Santiago de Cuba province, Raul Castro also said Fidel had the full backing of the Cuban Communist Party to seek a seventh five-year term in the National Assembly, a key step towards being renewed as the country’s president.

Fidel Castro, Cuba’s leader since he took power in 1959, has not appeared in public since he underwent surgery in late July 2006, and no detailed information on his health has been made public since then.

Fidel “is not bothered over little issues, but we consult him on all the major questions,” said Raul, who was named to replace him “temporarily” 17 months ago.

Raul said the 81-year-old Cuban strongman enjoys “a healthy mind, with full use of his mental faculties and some small physical limitations, the consequence of the problems he is suffering.”—AFP