Cuba: Fidel's medical prospects

Cuba-centric blogs and bloggers, including Marc Masferrer, Luis M. García, Babalú and Ziva, are abuzz with speculation in the aftermath of an article in Spanish news daily El Pais about Fidel Castro's medical prospects, and the subsequent denial of the article's accuracy by Castro's chief surgeon.

2 comments

  • Has it occuirred to folks that the media are retailing disinformation? The MAdrid surgeon affirmed categorically there was no deterioration in Castro’s condition, but rather a slow recovery whose completeness cannot be predicted or assured.

    El País is one of the authoritative voices of the unreconstructed Franco-ist right wing. It spreads the views of the PPP of Fraga Iribarne & Aznar. While he was Spanish Prime Minister, Aznar was the main force pushing for the anti-Cuban positions in the European Union. This individual’s anti-communism endeared him so much to the Bush Administration that, after he lost his job as Prime Minister, they seriously entertained foisting him onto the Organisation of American States as its chairperson – until some other OAS members kicked back.

    Certain of Spain’s big business community tycoons could never forgive Castro after they tried to leverage their investment in Cuban tourism in the 1990s into a power to dictate Cuba’s foreign invesment rules – and failed.

    Whatever the eventual state of President Castro’s health – and, contrary to the insinuations of the reportage in those parts of the world press that wish him ill, neither he nor the government have concealed the gravity of his current condition – I am confident the straight goods on this matter will never be forthcoming from El País or any of its ideological and political fellow-travelllers.

  • […] It’s unlikely that Cuban president Fidel Castro will be any less of a polarising figure in death than he’s been over the course of his long and colourful political career. Since the announcement of his illness and the passing of power to his brother Raúl at the end of July 2006, Castro’s state of health has been a closely guarded secret, the silence punctuated by occasional — and conflicting — reports coming through channels such as a Spanish news daily and Venezuelan president (and close Castro ally) Hugo Chávez. […]

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