World / Fidel Castro Fidel Spotted Strolling Around Havana Residents see frail Comadante in public for first time in years By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff Posted Mar 3, 2009 6:04 AM CST Copied Children wave flags on Havana's Malecon avenue on the anniversary of Fidel Castro's triumphant march into Havana when he defeated Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills) Residents of Havana say they’ve spotted the unmistakable figure of El Comadante shuffling around the city in recent weeks, the New York Times reports. Fidel Castro hasn’t been seen in public since undergoing emergency surgery in 2006, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hailed the jaunts as "a miracle," though experts believe the former Cuban president is still gravely ill. (More Fidel Castro stories.) Report an error