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Cuban Diplomat: Castro
Report 'Is A Lie'
Spanish Paper Claims
Castro In 'Grave' Condition
NBC
6 Miami. January 17, 2007.
Fidel Castro has had at least three failed
operations and complications from an intestinal
infection, and the Cuban leader faces "a
very grave prognosis," a Spanish newspaper
reported Tuesday.
A Cuban diplomat in Madrid said the reports
were lies and declined to comment.
"It's another lie and we are not going
to talk about it. If anyone has to talk
about Castro's illness, it's Havana,"
the diplomat said, speaking on condition
of anonymity because of official policy.
The newspaper El Pais cited two unidentified
sources from the Gregorio Maranon hospital
in the Spanish capital of Madrid. The facility
employs surgeon Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido,
who flew to Cuba in December to treat the
80-year-old Castro.
In a report published on its Web site,
El Pais said: "A grave infection in
the large intestine, at least three failed
operations and various complications have
left the Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, laid
up with a very grave prognosis."
Cuba has released little information on
Castro's condition since he temporarily
ceded power in July to his brother, Defense
Minister Raul Castro, until he could recover
from emergency intestinal surgery.
El Pais' report, which could not immediately
be confirmed, was a rare detailed description
from a major media outlet about Castro's
condition.
The report was not made public in Cuba,
where the government runs the media and
Cubans have become accustomed to very limited
details about their ailing leader's health.
Some criticized the unofficial reports by
sources outside Cuba, saying they were speculative
and likely false.
"If Fidel is exercising his right
to keep everything concealed, well then,
let him keep things concealed," said
Ana Casas, who hadn't seen the El Pais report.
"It's for his own good, so people don't
talk such nonsense like they're doing in
other countries."
The U.S. government had speculated that
Castro could suffer from cancer -- a supposition
denied by Garcia Sabrido. Some U.S. doctors
believed Castro was suffering from diverticular
disease, which can cause bleeding in the
lower intestine, especially in people over
60. In severe cases, emergency surgery may
be required.
That idea was supported by El Pais, which
reported that its sources said Castro had
suffered a bout of the disease.
"In the summer, the Cuban leader bled
abundantly in the intestine," El Pais
reported. "This adversity led him to
the operating table, according to the medical
sources. His condition, moreover, was aggravated
because the infection spread and caused
peritonitis, the inflammation of the membrane
that covers the digestive organs."
The recovery from the first operation,
in which part of his large intestine was
extracted and the colon was connected to
the rectum, did not go well, resulting in
peritonitis, the report said.
A second operation to clean and drain the
infected area was conducted. Doctors removed
the remainder of Castro's large intestine
and created an artificial anus. But this
operation also failed, El Pais said.
The Cuban leader was then hit with inflammation
of the bile duct. He developed a condition
called cholecystitis, which is an inflammation
of the gall bladder. El Pais said this condition
has an 80 percent mortality rate.
A prosthetic device made in South Korea
was implanted in the bile duct and failed,
and was replaced with one made in Spain,
the report said.
El Pais said that in December, when Garcia
Sabrido visited, Castro had an abdominal
wound that was leaking more than a pint
of fluids a day, causing "a severe
loss of nutrients." The Cuban leader
was being fed intravenously, the report
said.
Garcia Sabrido's secretary said he would
not comment on the report.
White House press secretary Tony Snow said
the El Pais report appears to be "just
sort of a roundup of previous health reports.
We've got nothing new."
A statement attributed to Castro was released
on Dec. 31, saying his recovery was "far
from being a lost battle."
Cuban officials told visiting U.S. lawmakers
last month that Castro does not have cancer
or a terminal illness and will eventually
return to public life, although it was not
clear whether he would return to the same
kind of absolute control as before.
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