Above: the photo of Castro and University student Randy Perdomo Garcia

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro has appeared in a new photo released by the country’s government.

The photo of Castro is the first of him in public in five months.

The photo seems to have been taken of Castro with Randy Perdomo Garcia, president of the University Student Federation at the University of Havana.

It was released a week after Castro published a letter to the same University Student Federation addressing the 70th anniversary of his matriculation at the school.

The photo was published as part of an interview between Garcia and Castro.

It shows Garcia pointing out published photos in a publication whose date is not legible.

“We talked with joy, like two classmates,” Perdomo wrote in Granma. “He, with his impressive simplicity, trying to make me feel on equal footing. I, for my part, without being able to explain to me all the extraordinary luck that made me live this unique moment.”

Castro had not appeared in public for more than a year, leading to an Internet frenzy and rumors of his death.

The most recent photos of Castro had been released following a reported meeting between him and Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro.