A picture released by the official Cuban newspaper Granma Aug. 14, 2006 shows Cuban leader Fidel Castro receiving a birthday gift from visiting Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in his hospital bed in Habana. (Xinhua Photo/AFP/File)

    CARACAS, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Saturday denied rumors that his ally Cuban leader Fidel Castro had died.

    In response to recent speculation about Castro's health, Chavez said those who want Castro to die will be frustrated.

    "Because Fidel Castro will never die," Chavez said at a public event. Castro "will always live among the people that fight for a better destiny. He will always live in the people of Cuba, of Venezuela and of America," he added.

    On Thursday, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque also denied talk of Castro's death when attending a meeting of Latin American and Asian officials in Brazil's capital, Brasilia.

    In July, 2006, Castro handed power to Raul Castro, Cuba's defense minister, in order to undergo surgery for intestinal bleeding. He has not been seen in public since then, but writes regularly in the country's official newspapers on current affairs.