Havana ? For the first time since he took ill last summer, Fidel Castro appeared in an extended interview broadcast Tuesday on Cuban TV, looking healthier than in earlier clips and commenting about a host of topics from Vietnam to renewable energy.

Dressed in a blue and white Adidas track suit, with a Cuban flag on his chest, Castro spoke for about 50 minutes with the host of a Cuban government TV talk show.

Though his speech was slow and his voice sometimes faded, the 80-year-old read without glasses from a booklet, raised his arms and pointed his fingers animatedly and told viewers the conversation was “the first” in what may be a string of TV broadcasts.

“I’m fulfilling my duty,” the gray-haired, bearded former revolutionary told Mesa Redonda talk show host Randy Alonso in an interview taped Monday. “I keep doing what I have to do.”

Castro has been recovering since late July from a series of intestinal operations for what is widely believed to be diverticular disease, where sacs form in the colon and can inflame and bleed. He ceded power temporarily July 31 to his brother and longtime defense minister, Raul Castro.

Castro spoke from an undisclosed location seated on an orange chair across the table from the talk show host. His whereabouts have not been released.