Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Cuban ex-president Fidel Castro is “very, very well” and recently took a walk in Havana, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said after a visit last week to the communist country.

Chavez and Castro met for three hours on Feb. 20, and again for four hours the following day, Chavez said, according to a statement published today on the Venezuelan Information and Communications Ministry’s Web site. Castro hadn’t been seen in public since he fell ill in 2006.

“Fidel went out and they saw him walking in Havana on some streets,” Chavez said today in a speech broadcast on state television. “A miracle. People cried.”

The Venezuelan socialist leader visited Castro, who was the world’s longest serving president when he stepped down last year, a week after winning a referendum to amend the constitution to allow him to seek re-election as many times as he wanted.

Castro, 82, ceded control to his brother Raul Castro following surgery for an intestinal ailment. He continues to publish “reflections” in state-run media.

Chavez said that Castro planned his walk so that it wouldn’t be recorded, and that he has seen pictures of the event. Castro didn’t appear at a ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution.

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Walter in Caracas at mwalter4@bloomberg.net; Daniel Cancel in Caracas at dcancel@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 27, 2009 13:55 EST