US suggests Cuban government behind Castro dead rumours

Yahoo! News.

WASHINGTON, 28 (AFP) - The United States suggested Monday that the latest round of rumours of ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro's death might have been started by the government.

"I would say that the Cuban government has always been very good at stirring the nest whenever they felt the need to," said Gonzo Gallegos, a State Department spokesman.

"I can't say whether or not this is them or something else that is happening," he said when commenting on talk among Cuban exiles and echoed by foreign news outlets, especially in Florida, that the ailing Castro, 81, had died.

When asked by reporters whether he was suggesting that Havana was circulating rumours that Castro was dead, Gonzo replied, "All I was saying was that the Cuban government takes the opportunity when it sees fit to take care of itself."

Castro, who turned 81 on August 13 with little celebration in Cuba, underwent intestinal surgery in July 2006 and handed power over temporarily to his brother Raul.

He has not been seen in public since before the operation, though he has appeared in photographs and eight videos, the last of which aired on June 5.

Gallegos said he did not believe Castro was dead.

"I don't have any reason to believe he is dead."