Fidel Castro, who turned 83 on Aug 13, has not appeared in public since July 2006 for health reasons, but he has received -- with relative frequency -- key figures from other countries for chats and discussions at which publicity photos and some videotapes have been taken and later released.

Correa arrived in Havana Friday with his wife, Anne Malherbe, for a visit described as being a 'vacation, to rest for about four days', Ecuadorian Ambassador to Cuba Universi Zambrano told EFE.

This is the second visit to Cuba this year for the 46-year-old Correa.

On the first official visit, in January, he met his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, but not Raul's older brother and predecessor.