The photos show Fidel Castro meeting with a student leader on January 23. The president of the student union federation, Randy Perdomo had contacted Fidel Castro the day before, in order to organize activities to mark the leader’s 70th year since he began at the University of Havana.

Garcia then described the meeting in detail in an article published near midnight and accompanied by photos of the meeting.

His article discredits the rumours that the revolutionary had died.

During the meeting, the Cuban leader referred to many different topics, including the importance of paying attention to food production. He showed Garcia photos of his own land where he is experimenting with seeds.  

Garcia said that Fidel Castro was emotional when he talked about the important ​role of revolutionary leaders such as Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, as well as Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.

The Cuban leader – who will turn 90 in 2016 – also talked about his personal lifestyle and the importance of food and sport for maintaining his state of health.

The rumors claiming that Fidel Castro had died peaked around January 9 and 10.  On January 12, Fidel sent a letter to Argentine football player Diego Armando Maradona, reported teleSUR, thereby confirming the rumours were false. However, it has been some time since any photos of the now retired leader were published.