Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro (at left) appeared in public Sunday for
the first time since March, belying recent speculation that he was seriously
ill. Castro, 86, on Monday published an online article criticising the health
rumours.
Former Venezuelan Vice President Elias Jaua said Sunday that he met with
aging revolutionary icon Fidel Castro for five hours and showed The Associated
Press photos of the encounter, quashing persistent rumors that the former Cuban
leader was on his deathbed or had suffered a massive stroke. Jaua also
confirmed that the 86-year-old retired Cuban president personally accompanied
him to the Hotel Nacional after their meeting Saturday, in which they talked
about politics, history, culture and tourism. “He had the courtesy of bringing
me to the hotel,” Jaua said Sunday, adding that Castro looked “very well.”
Jaua showed a photograph of himself seated in a minibus along with the
former Cuban leader, Castro’s wife, Dalia Soto del Valle, a hotel executive and
several other people. The photo shows Jaua and Castro smiling broadly, and the
former Cuban leader is wearing a checked shirt and cowboy hat. The public
appearance was Castro’s first in months.
A top Hotel Nacional executive told the AP earlier Sunday how Castro had
dropped off the Venezuelan guest, then stayed on to chat with hotel staff. “Fidel
Castro was here yesterday, he brought a guest and spoke to workers and hotel
leaders for 30 minutes,” commercial director Yamila Fuster said. Fuster was not
present, but hotel director Antonio Martinez is seated next to Castro in the
photo shown by Jaua, and told Cuban media later that the bearded
revolutionary’s health was great. “Fidel is excellent and his health is
magnificent,” Martinez said in comments carried on the evening news, which also
broadcast images of Jaua showing off his photograph with Fidel. “With his
cowboy hat, his smile, his ideas, (he was) very coherent and affectionate with
the workers.”
The news presenter also announced that Castro would publish an article
on Monday, but did not say what it would be about. State-run Trabajadores
newspaper reported that an election worker collected an absentee ballot from
Castro at his home and took it to the polls for him, a right it said was
extended to all citizens with “impediments.” On Sunday, Cubans were voting in
municipal elections, which the island’s leaders hold up as evidence the
government is representative. Critics say the process is a sham because there
is no campaigning and only the Communist Party is recognized.
Castro’s health has been the subject of intense speculation for years,
but the rumors gained force in recent days after he failed to publicly
congratulate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a top ally, on his Oct. 7
electoral victory. The former Cuban leader has not appeared since March, when
he was shown greeting visiting Pope Benedict XVI, and he has also ceased
writing his once-constant opinion pieces, the last of which appeared in June.
Twitter and other social media sites have been abuzz with claims of
Castro’s demise. Late last week, a Venezuelan doctor purported to have
information that Castro had suffered a stroke, but the same doctor has
previously claimed knowledge that turned out to be false. Sunday’s news from the Hotel Nacional appeared to be Cuba’s attempt to
hit back against what it says are false and malicious rumors. A letter
attributed to Castro was published Thursday by Cuban state media. In it, he
congratulated graduates of a medical school on the occasion of its 50th
anniversary.
Two close family members of Castro have also recently denied he is in
grave condition. Juanita Castro, the former leader’s sister, told the AP in
Miami that reports of her brother’s condition are “pure rumors” and “absurd.” Son
Alex Castro told a reporter for a weekly Cuban newspaper that his father “is
well, going about his daily life.” Castro stepped down in 2006 following a
severe illness, handing power to his brother Raul.
France24
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