Havana - Cuban President Raul Castro is set to visit Brazil in December for a summit between Latin America and the Caribbean in the north-eastern Brazilian city of Salvador.

"(Castro) is finally going to Brazil," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in confirming the upcoming visit in Havana, where Lula and Raul Castro presided over bilateral agreements Friday.

This is to be Raul Castro's first trip abroad since he took over power from his brother Fidel Castro over two years ago, before he formally became Cuban president in February.

Havana  - Cuban President Raul Castro on Wednesday appeared in public for the first time after hurricanes Gustav and Ike devastated the communist Caribbean island to the tune of an estimated 5 billion dollars.

"I ask that you keep your optimism, that hope. Let that spirit not fall because that would be the worst, the demoralization would set in," Castro said as he toured the Isle of Youth.

Havana - Cuban president Raul Castro said Saturday that the communist island will not "neglect" its defence regardless of who becomes the next US president after the November election.

"The defence will not be neglected regardless of the results of the next presidential elections in the United Sates," Castro said during the 55th anniversary of Fidel Castro's first attempt to topple Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship, the central festivity of the Cuban revolution.

Havana - Cuban President Rau