CARACAS - Cuban leader Fidel Castro warned Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez to make the best of life before old age cuts into his time, in a letter Chavez read out to the public on Sunday.
"Don't be afraid over that lone white strand you found in your dark hair. My problem is trying to find a black one among my white head of hair," Chavez read from Castro's letter in his weekly radio program "Alo Presidente."
"When the time comes," Castro told Chavez in the letter, "you'll find you need more time than ever to meditate and go deep."
Amid strong rumors that Castro, 81, may be dead 13 months after undergoing a delicate intestinal surgery, Chavez did not say when he got the letter, but thanked Castro for a message that "motivates, energizes and strengthens."
Speculation on Castro's health has gone through cycles since he handed power over temporarily to his brother Raul, 76, the commander of the Cuban armed forces, on July 31, 2006.
Rumors intensified when Fidel Castro's August 13 birthday went by with no photographs or even a visit by his friend Chavez, as happened in 2006.
Cuban officials say that they treat news on Castro's health as a state secret.
09/02/2007 21:04 GMT