Former Cuban president Fidel Castro has appeared in public for the first time in more than a year , his first since his country reached a landmark agreement with the US to reestablish ties . The state-run Cubadebate website says Castro greeted a group of Venezuelans visiting the capital of Havana . Cubadebate on Friday published four images that show Castro sitting inside a bus , each with a different person stretching an arm through the window to shake his hand . Images of Fidel Castro meeting with Venezuelan visitors to Havana were reported in Cuban media on Friday , though the encounters were said to take place on Monday . The meetings , with photos taken inside Castro 's bus , are the former president 's first public appearance since January 2014 . Castro 's face is largely obscured by a dark-colored baseball cap . He sports longish gray hair and a beard . The website said the encounter occurred Monday , but did not explain the delay in publishing the photos . He is shown shaking hands , which Cubandebate said occurred 'for hours , ' with Venezuelans in Havana who had come for solidarity events . Castro will turn 89 on Aug. 13 . He was last seen in public at the inauguration of an artist 's studio in January 2014 . In February and March of this year , official Cuban media published photographs of Castro taken during private meetings with a Cuban student leader and with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro . State media reports about the event said that Castro was 'full of vitality ' and shook hands 'for hours ' before going to a school . Castro , whose country has close ties with the leftist Venezuelan government , said that the South American country had become the target of 'imperial greed ' Though Monday 's reported appearance is his first in public since a landmark deal to reestablish ties between the US and Cuba , Castro met with spies released by the US in the agreement earlier this year . He also appeared with the Cuban agents who were freed from prison in December after a landmark agreement between the Obama administration and his brother Raul to reestablish ties between the island and the US . Fidel , older than his brother by five years , expressed skepticism about the deal , which includes plans for a US Embassy in Havana and has lessened travel restrictions . Cuban media said that Castro 's meeting went off 'without the slightest of problems ' and he urged his residents to write to Obama and urge him to stop saying that Venezuela y was a threat . It said that the former leader talked about how the South American country had become a target for 'imperial greed ' . The American president signed sanctions against several Venezuelan officials earlier this year . Castro , whose recent public appearances often largely serve the function of proving that he is alive , was said to be 'full of vitality ' . He also reportedly stopped and spoke at a school . The former revolutionary stepped aside temporarily as president due to serious illness in July 2006 , and Raul took over permanently in February 2008 after he was elected the country 's new leader . Fidel Castro took over Cuba after the fall of the Batista military dictatorship . Raul Castro ( left ) is five years younger than his brother and has taken over as president of Cuba . Above , he presented an award to the Cuban Five spies in February . The Castro family has controlled Cuba since the 1959 revolution against the Batista regime . Above , Fidel at a 1961 rally in Havana .
Cuban leader met Venezuelans in Havana 'for hours , ' state media says . Appearance on Monday was first since January art show last year . Comment: