Havana  - Ailing revolutionary icon Fidel Castro met Wednesday in Havana with visiting Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

The 82-year-old, who has permanently relinquished rule to his brother, Raul Castro, has been rarely seen since suffering a health crisis in 2006.

Fernandez de Kirchner told the Argentine news agency Telam that she had a wide-ranging discussion with the elder Castro. She arrived Sunday in Cuba for the first visit by an Argentine head of state to the communist-ruled island since 1986. (dpa)