Cuban leader Fidel Castro is battling for his life, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said in Rio De Janeiro Friday.

"Castro is in the Sierra Maestra again, battling for his life," Chavez said after attending the 32nd summit meeting of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur).

Chavez, who gives frequent updates on Castro's health, was referring to the 1950s when Castro was fighting in Cuba's eastern mountains as a guerrilla leader.

The Venezuelan president said he talked with Castro for nearly half an hour several days ago. But he refused to give more details about the Cuban leader's medical condition, saying he was not the doctor caring for Fidel.

Meanwhile, Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido, a Spanish doctor, on Friday told Reuters in Madrid that Castro is experiencing a "slow but progressive" recovery.

"I have recent information that his recovery is slow but progressive," the doctor was quoted as saying.

Garcia Sabrido, who reportedly is a consultant to Castro's medical team and examined him in Havana late last year, said the Cuban leader has suffered complications after surgery on his digestive system but denied recent reports that Castro had undergone three botched operations.

Spanish press reports said in the past week that Castro was in danger after three failed operations. Cuban authorities have denied rumors that Castro suffered from terminal cancer.

Fidel Castro, 80, had an intestinal operation on July 27 and four days later he handed over power temporarily to Cuban defense minister, Raul Castro.

Though the Veteran Cuban leader has not made any public appearance since the surgery, he delivered New Year greetings to his countrymen on Dec. 30, congratulating Cubans on the 48th anniversary of the Cuban revolution.

Talking about his own health in the New Year message, Castro said his recovery could be a prolonged process, but it "is far from being a lost battle."

"I collaborate as a disciplined patient, attended by the consecrated team of our doctors," he said.

He said he had not stopped following main events and information. He has also had exchanges with his close comrades "when cooperation has been necessary on vitally important issues," Castro said.

Source: Xinhua