It is a familiar scene in hospitals all over the world. A concerned visitor sits at the ailing patient’s bedside, tenderly holding his hand and wishing him a speedy recovery.

They could be father and son, an aged man preparing his offspring for the day when he can no longer impart the benefit of his wisdom. Yet this is no ordinary patient, and his visitor is related in political outlook, if not in blood.

Cuba today released official pictures of Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s populist president, as he spent Sunday evening next to Fidel Castro’s sickbed, showering the Cuban leader with gifts and praise on his 80th birthday.

Washington’s greatest irritants in the Americas are shown clasping hands and beaming at each other in identical red shirts. One shows Señor Chávez studiously taking notes as the bed-ridden Cuban President speaks.

Another shows them eating a yoghurt or a milkshake together. However, the Cuban leader did not lift his head from the pillow in any of the photos released today, unlike those on Sunday, which seemed designed to dispel rumours that he had died.

Señor Chávez was euphoric as he emerged from the three hour-meeting with his hero. "It was the best visit I’ve ever had in my life," he gushed, according to Cuba’s official newspaper, Granma.

Calling it an "unforgettable evening between brothers" Granma said the two had shared "an emotional exchange, [with] anecdotes, laughs, photos, a frugal snack and the joy of a close friendship".

Señor Chávez said he had tried for the best part of a week to draw a picture of the Cuban leader, without success, Granma said.

Instead, he gave Señor Castro a portrait of himself by the Venezuelan artist, José Antonio Quintero, a giant birthday cake and the dagger of the South American liberator, Simón Bolívar.

He also gave him a cup, supposedly belonging to Napoleon, that was carried by Bolívar for good luck during his campaigns for independence from the Spanish crown.

Raúl Castro, the Cuban President’s younger brother, reciprocated by giving Señor Chávez a 1959 painting of Fidel by the noted Mexican artist, David Alfaro Siqueiros.

"What kind of person is this?" asked Señor Chávez, rhetorically. "Of what material is he made? He is, as you say, made of caguairán," naming the resilient Cuban hardwood to which Granma has been comparing El Comandante in recent days.

Cuba’s leader has been in bed following an operation to halt gastrointestinal bleeding at least two weeks ago.

In a statement on his birthday, Señor Castro said his condition was "stable" but told Cubans they should "always be prepared for any adverse news". He said it would be "absolutely incorrect" to expect a quick recovery.

His brother, the head of the Cuban Armed Forces, has been provisionally in-charge of the country since then, and made his first appearance as leader to welcome the Venezuelan leader on Sunday.

He is also seen in one of today’s photos, talking with the Venezuelan leader on a sofa in military uniform. Under Señor Chávez, Venezuela has become Cuba’s principal benefactor, supplying the impoverished country with nearly 100,000 barrels a day of cut-price petroleum products and other benefits.

"It was an unforgettable evening," Granma wrote, "shared between blood brothers, which brought strength and new breath to the Commander of a thousand battles, bent on a new victory for life."

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