Significance: The newspaper cites two medical sources who work at the
Gregorio Marañón hospital in Madrid. This is the same hospital where
intestinal specialist José Luis García Sabrido, who was flown out to Havana by
the Cuban government to treat Castro in December, works as head of surgery.
The report is the most detailed description to date of Castro's condition and
contradicts US intelligence reports printed in "Time" magazine in
October which claimed that Castro was suffering from terminal cancer. However,
the condition described by the Spanish sources is still extremely serious, and
potentially fatal.
According to
El País, Castro had suffered from a mild condition
called diverticulitis, which is an inflammation of the interior walls of the
intestine, for over 20 years. However, his large intestine became infected and
he developed peritonitis over the summer. Peritonitis is a serious inflammation
of the intestinal lining, or peritoneum, which is treatable but, if
complications arise, can be fatal.
Cuban surgeons performed a first operation to remove part of the large
intestine and reconnect the colon in July, but the procedure was unsuccessful
and became infected. In a second operation, doctors cleaned the infected area
and put in a colostomy, but this was also unsuccessful. Castro then underwent a
third operation to implant a Korean-made prosthesis, but it did not work and had
to be replaced by a Spanish-made one.
When García Sabrido arrived in Havana in December he performed tests to see
whether Castro needed further surgery. The patient had an abdominal scar that
had not healed which meant he was losing half a litre of fluids and vital
nutrients each day. Castro had apparently lost muscle mass and needed to be fed
intravenously.
The reports were confirmed by a different source on 15 January; an unnamed
diplomat with close relations to Havana who attended Rafael Correa's
inauguration in Ecuador told a reporter from the Reuters news agency that
Castro's scars were not healing well, which had slowed his recovery. The source
also claimed that on one day in December Castro had undergone as many as seven
surgical procedures.
Cuban officials have not yet commented on the reports, although on 13 January
Castro's eldest son, Fidel Castro Díaz-Balart, told reporters in Chile that his
father is getting better. In Castro's latest message to the Cuban people, read
out by a presenter on national radio and television on 1 January, he said
"I always warned that my recuperation would be a prolonged process, but it
is far from being a lost battle."
Even if Fidel does recover, it seems increasingly unlikely that he will
return to rule Cuba. In a political manoeuvre that has taken considerably more
skill than that displayed by the Cuban surgeons treating Fidel, a peaceful
transfer of power has effectively occurred. His brother Raúl appears to be
getting a taste for power. He has held numerous internal meetings and is taking
a tough new businesslike approach to governance: he expects officials to have
figures to hand and demands reports in advance so that he does not have to work
at night.
In December it was Raúl who presided over the National Assembly for the
first time since its creation in 1976. He showed himself to be adept at the
everyday business of government, demanding action on housing; the decaying
transport system; and the restructuring of the sugar industry, which while
reputedly growing by 32% in 2006 on 2005 is still only producing 1.2m tonnes a
year.
Speaking at the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on 11 January, John
Negroponte, the director of US National Intelligence, and Michael Maples, the
director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, both seemed sure that a return to
power by Fidel Castro is not on the cards. Maples said that Raúl's broad
respect and support from the heads of the army is "crucial" for an
effective succession. This, he said, will ensure that Raúl "will maintain
power and stability after the death of Fidel Castro, at least in the short
term."
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