The Cuban President Fidel Castro spoke live on television, along with his friend Hugo Chavez, during the "Alo presidente" programme which the Venezuelan president aired from the central Cuban town of Santa Clara.

This is the first public appearance of Fidel Castro in more than a year after he handled over the power and suffered serious operation.

Castro has not been seen in public since July 26, 2006. The telephoned conversation along the two took place after the transmission of a video on the four-hour meeting both leaders celebrated on Saturday.

In the video, Castro appears in his Cuban sports team colors tracksuit, his uniform for the past 14 months of convalescence.

Chavez announced the video at the beginning of his weekly "Alo presidente" show, made from the Memorial to Ernesto Che Guevara in the central Cuban town of Santa Clara.

"Fidel, how are you?", said Chavez in English, a greeting he often uses with his friend and ally.

"Good morning, I am sure you are watching us", added Chavez, who also announced the possibility of a "surprise", a live phone connection with the Cuban leader.

"Fidel has a telephone with worldwide range. If he picks up the phone, he can talk to Bush," joked the Venezuelan president. "Maybe he has that telephone there and it could be a surprise with Fidel's phone".

There were 40 years since the death of the revolutionary icon Che Guevara, and the so called “surprise” phone call that Fidel Castro made was to discuss the Guevara legacy.

The two friends and allies were very relaxed. "Fidel has a telephone with worldwide range. If he picks up the phone, he can talk to Bush," joked the Venezuelan president. The Cuban President didn’t give any information about his state of health or his political plans, the same as he does in the press articles that he publishes.