Castro said to have terminal cancer
(AFP) Updated: 2006-10-08 11:47
WASHINGTON - Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is believed to have terminal
cancer and is unlikely to return to power, a magazine reported, citing US
government officials.
Despite remarks by Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque on Wednesday
that Castro "continues to recover (and) we will have him back leading the
Revolution," Time magazine reported on its website that many US officials are
now convinced that Castro has terminal cancer and will never retake power.
Picture of Cuban President Fidel
Castro published 05 September 2006 in the official daily Granma in Havana.
Castro is believed to have terminal cancer and is unlikely to return to
power, a magazine reported, citing US government
officials.[AFP\File] |
"Certainly we have heard this, that this guy has terminal cancer," a US
official told the magazine on condition of anonymity.
Castro, 80, handed over the presidency for the first time in almost five
decades to his brother Raul Castro, 75, who has long been Cuba's defense chief,
after undergoing intestinal surgery in July. He has largely remained out of the
public spotlight since then.
Time.com noted in the report that the intelligence reports on Castro's health
could be wrong, but reporter Tim Burger, one of the article's authors, told CNN
television: "Obviously there is intelligence to that effect" that Castro will
not recover and return to work.
"There have been lots of rumors over the decades about Castro's health. This
time, there's specificity and they attribute credibility to the reports," Burger
said.
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