Posted on 10/08/2006 8:10:43 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is believed to have terminal cancer and is unlikely to return to power, Time 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 reported on its website Saturday that many US officials are now convinced that Castro has terminal cancer and will never retake the reins of the Americas' only communist-ruled country.
"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.
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/ESTUDIOS REVOLUCION/HO)
At last, a vicious illness to someone who deserves it.
I know! I know!
Another Castro is terminally ill article?
with pics :-)
Cuban President Fidel Castro shakes hands with the Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, September 2006. Castro is believed to have terminal cancer and is unlikely to return to power, Time magazine reported, citing US government officials.(AFP/File/Juventud Rebelde)
Raul Castro (R), head of Cuba's armed forces and 2nd in Cuba's political hierarchy, listens to a family member of one of the 37 people killed in the 1976 downing of a Cuban airliner in Barbados at Havana's Karl Marx theater October 6, 2006. Friday marks the 30th anniversary of the downing of the airliner. REUTERS/Claudia Daut (CUBA)
Acting Cuban President Raul Castro, right, is seen at the Karl Marx Theatre in Havana Friday,Oct. 6, 2006 during a commemoration ceremony for the Cubana Airlines plane traveling from Barbados to Havana that exploded in the air on Oct. 6, 1976. Cubans are marking the 30th anniversary of the airliner bombing that killed 73 people.(AP Photo/ Javier Galeano)
Members of Cuba's Jose Marti Pioneers Organization hold a picture of Cuban leader Fidel Castro and his brother acting president Raul Castro during a ceremony at Jose Marti's monument in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Oct.6, 2006. The group, which includes virtually all primary and secondary school students from across the island, celebrates their 4th National Congress in Havana this weekend with about 900 delegates from around the country. (AP Photo/ Javier Galeano)
A member of Cuba's Jose Marti Pioneers Organization, holds a picture showing Cuban leader Fidel Castro and his brother Cuban Acting President Raul Castro during a ceremony at the Jose Marti's monument in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Oct. 6, 2006. The group, which includes virtually all primary and secondary school students from across the island, celebrates their 4th National Congress in Havana this weekend with about 900 delegates from around the country. (AP Photo/ Javier Galeano)
So, is it okay if we rejoice or will someone come say how mean we are?
Terminally ill again?!
Too bad that Castro's cancer isn't spread by direct contact.Somebody should go to his funeral and drive a stake through his heart-just to be sure.
Yes, but in the September pictures it does look like the wasting has begun.
#4 if it's not cancer it could be aids.
He never married ... .
Whatever it is, he looks terminal.
Be prepared for a hog roast and kegger at our house!
And the downside to this is?
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