Soaring Wings

Castro looks healthy in the new set of photos. AP

HAVANA, AP: New pictures of Fidel Castro was released today that show the stooped but smiling former leader venturing out to meet with workers at a Cuban scientific think tank — the first to show him in public since he got sick four years ago. (See pictures below)

Previously, Cuba had occasionally released pictures showing him in private meetings with dignitaries, most recently during a visit in February by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. In those pictures, Castro looked cheerful and robust.

The latest batch of pictures of the tracksuit-clad Castro were posted Saturday on the blogs of two Cuban journalists and a media website.

Castro, 83, appears slightly stooped but otherwise healthy in the pictures, which were said to have been taken Wednesday during a visit to the National Center for Scientific Investigation in Havana.

The initial set of four photos appeared on the blogs of two official Cuban journalists and apparently were taken with a worker’s mobile phone. Castro is seen raising his hand to wave in one picture and seemingly being led away in another.

More images from the same event were posted later on Cubadebate, a state-run media website. In those pictures, Castro is seen laughing and talking with workers, some of whom line an overhead walkway to wave and clap at him. In one, he leans back casually against a desk, looking animated.