(Corrects day in paragraph 2 from Saturday to Sunday) HAVANA, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has promised massive aid to hurricane-stricken Cuba, met with Cuban leader Raul Castro on a brief visit to the island at the start of a tour of five countries, Cuban state-run media said on Monday. A television report showed Chavez and Castro giving each other a goodbye hug at the Havana airport before Chavez, who arrived on Sunday evening, boarded his jet early on Monday. No other details were provided and television did not say if Chavez met with former leader Fidel Castro, who wrote in a column on Saturday he looked forward to a brief visit with his close socialist ally. The elder Castro, who stepped aside provisionally after intestinal surgery in July 2006 and was formally replaced as president by younger brother Raul Castro in February, said Venezuela was the first country to offer aid after Cuba was hit by Hurricane Gustav in August, then Hurricane Ike early this month. The storms caused $5 billion in damage; 200,000 people were unable to immediately return to their homes and 30 percent of Cuba's agriculture was destroyed. Chavez, Castro wrote, offered Cuba "financial support and even Venezuelan land to produce food." Even before the hurricanes, oil-rich Venezuela was Cuba's top benefactor, providing 93,000 barrels of oil per day and making investments in Cuba industry and infrastructure. Cuba has sent almost 40,000 doctors and other specialists to work in Venezuela, partly in payment for Venezuelan oil. Chavez was scheduled to visit China, Russia, France and Portugal after Cuba. (Reporting by Nelson Acosta; editing by Jeff Franks and Mohammad Zargham)
Haitians unload food donated by the NGO CARE and World Food Program "WFP" after flooding in the town of Gonaives September 22, 2008. Haiti has been blasted by four storms - ...
