CARACAS (Agencies) -- The Cuban leader Fidel Castro is recovering and has been up and walking in recent days, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said, AP reported.

Chavez said he was pleased to hear from Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage, who delivered a letter from Castro to the Venezuelan president, that the 80-year-old Castro was making a recovery. "Lage told me that Fidel walked I don't know how many minutes," Chavez said, noting he suspected Castro was watching his speech on television. "He's walking more than me, almost jogging. Maybe he's walking while watching us." Holding up the letter before television cameras, Chavez said: "This is for those who say he's dying."

Lage's appearance in Caracas with the letter for Chavez made clear Havana wants it known the "Commandant" who has led Cuba for nearly five decades is still alive and keeping his hand in political issues.

Chavez, who has visited Castro and says he often speaks to him by telephone, said Castro had asked him not to publish his letter but to read some of it in public, AFP reported. Lage and his delegation, he quoted Castro as writing, "are bringing 17 points (of agreement). ... I'm happy with the idea of including the tourist zone in the place you've selected."

"I'm pleased the energy program is going ahead at full speed. ... It is a vital issue for the human race," Castro wrote, according to Chavez.

The Cuban leader has not been seen in public since shortly before July 31 when he announced he was temporarily stepping aside while he recovered from an operation. He has provisionally ceded power to his brother Raul, the 75-year-old defense minister.

Officials from the United States and elsewhere have suggested Castro has terminal cancer. A Spanish surgeon who visited Castro last month dismissed the theory but gave no details of his ailment.

Chavez and Lage said that Castro was watching them on television from his bed as they signed more than a dozen agreements for closer cooperation, notably in the areas of tourism and telecommunications.

"How are you, Fidel?" Chavez called out in English, prodding officials from both countries to applaud Castro on camera. After reading the Cuban leader's letter, Chavez said: "Full steam ahead, Caballo," using his nickname for Castro meaning "horse." "We all need you. That's how much we love you." Lage also after meeting with Chavez, said: "We will have Fidel and we will have Raul for a lot more time."

Also Chavez said Last week that Fidel Castro's recovery from surgery is slow and has risks, but he denied a Spanish newspaper report the Cuban leader's condition was serious.

The newspaper reported that the 80-year-old leader's prognosis was "very serious" after three failed operations.

Chavez accused the United States of being behind false reports exaggerating the illness, which has forced Castro to temporarily hand power over to his brother on the communist-run island. "The empire (the United States) is bent on killing off Fidel Castro," Chavez said.

"I'm not a doctor. I'm not at Fidel's bedside but he's not in a serious condition as some say, nor does he have cancer," Chavez told reporters during a visit to Ecuador.

"He said (to me) it's a slow recovery process not without risk. He's 80 years old," Chavez added, referring to a telephone chat with Castro about a week ago.