article: Former Cuban president Fidel Castro has appeared in public for the first time in more than a year, his first since his country reached a landmark agreement with the US to reestablish ties. The state-run Cubadebate website says Castro greeted a group of Venezuelans visiting the capital of Havana. Cubadebate on Friday published four images that show Castro sitting inside a bus, each with a different person stretching an arm through the window to shake his hand. Images of Fidel Castro meeting with Venezuelan visitors to Havana were reported in Cuban media on Friday, though the encounters were said to take place on Monday . The meetings, with photos taken inside Castro's bus, are the former president's first public appearance since January 2014 . Castro's face is largely obscured by a dark-colored baseball cap. He sports longish gray hair and a beard. The website said the encounter occurred Monday, but did not explain the delay in publishing the photos. He is shown shaking hands, which Cubandebate said occurred 'for hours,' with Venezuelans in Havana who had come for solidarity events. 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 and with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. State media reports about the event said that Castro was 'full of vitality' and shook hands 'for hours' before going to a school . Castro, whose country has close ties with the leftist Venezuelan government, said that the South American country had become the target of 'imperial greed' Though Monday's reported appearance is his first in public since a landmark deal to reestablish ties between the US and Cuba, Castro met with spies released by the US in the agreement earlier this year . He also appeared with the Cuban agents who were freed from prison in December after a landmark agreement between the Obama administration and his brother Raul to reestablish ties between the island and the US. Fidel, older than his brother by five years, expressed skepticism about the deal, which includes plans for a US Embassy in Havana and has lessened travel restrictions. Cuban media said that Castro's meeting went off 'without the slightest of problems' and he urged his residents to write to Obama and urge him to stop saying that Venezuela y was a threat. It said that the former leader talked about how the South American country had become a target for 'imperial greed'. The American president signed sanctions against several Venezuelan officials earlier this year. Castro, whose recent public appearances often largely serve the function of proving that he is alive, was said to be 'full of vitality'. He also reportedly stopped and spoke at a school. The former revolutionary stepped aside temporarily as president due to serious illness in July 2006, and Raul took over permanently in February 2008 after he was elected the country's new leader. Fidel Castro took over Cuba after the fall of the Batista military dictatorship. Raul Castro (left) is five years younger than his brother and has taken over as president of Cuba. Above, he presented an award to the Cuban Five spies in February . The Castro family has controlled Cuba since the 1959 revolution against the Batista regime. Above, Fidel at a 1961 rally in Havana .
highlights: Cuban leader met Venezuelans in Havana 'for hours,' state media says .
  Appearance on Monday was first since January art show last year .
  Longtime president had met in private with Cuban spies in February .
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