Fidel Castro's son says father is getting better

SANTIAGO, Jan 14 (Reuters) Cuba's ailing leader Fidel Castro, not seen in public since surgery nearly six months ago, is on the mend, his son and namesake Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart told local media during a visit to Chile, the El Mercurio newspaper reported today.

''He's getting better, better, I see him improving,'' Castro Junior, also known as ''Fidelito'' because of how much he looks like his father, said after the inauguration of a scientific center in southern Chile yesterday.

There have been scant reports on Castro's health in recent months, since the Cuban leader, now 80, ceded power temporarily to his brother Raul Castro on July 31 after emergency surgery.

His son said on Saturday that the Cuban leader was in a ''positive and optimistic mood.'' The younger Castro, a physicist who studied in the ex-Soviet Union, did not comment further on his father's health.

Local media described him as being relaxed and with only one body guard as he sipped a cocktail after the event, which was attended top scientists and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

REUTERS SSC RN1955