HAVANA - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is nearly ready to resume his position as president, El Universal reported Thursday.

Indulging in a baseball metaphor, the populist Chavez said Castro has "recovered his fastball," but is not quite ready to "resume the mound."

The 80-year-old Castro was once a promising pitcher in his youth.

The Venezuelan president has made numerous trips to the communist island since Fidel Castro fell ill from an undetermined gastro-intestinal sickness in 2006.

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