Above: Fidel Castro (Photo: GC)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Former Cuban President Fidel Castro voted in the country’s election’s Sunday, his first prolonged public appearance since 2010.

In recent elections, Castro had voted remotely.

Cuba said Castro voted in polling station one in Havana’s District 13, speaking for “over an hour” with the country’s national press, according to a government-issued release.

He also discussed the recent summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), an organization whose creation he called a “breakthrough.”

Cuba assumed the rotating presidency of the regional body last month.

He also addressed the health of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who remains in Cuba following a series of surgeries due to cancer. Castro said Chavez was “progressing well” and that he was “optimistic for a full recovery.”

The one-party country’s elections have come under fire from critics, particularly due to the fact that the number of candidates matched the number of open positions.