Former president Fidel Castro appears in public in Cuba

A handout picture provided on April 4, 2015 by Cubadebate shows former Cuban President Fidel Castro (L) greeting Venezuelan tourists during a visit to a school in Havana, Cuba, March 30, 2015. [Photo/IC]

HAVANA - Former Cuban president Fidel Castro has appeared in public for the first time in more than a year, official media reported.

The Cubadebate website says Castro greeted a group of Venezuelans visiting the capital of Havana.

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, with the Cuban agents who were freed from prison in December, and with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.