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Latinnews Daily - 16 January 2007

CUBA: Botched surgery worsened Fidel's condition

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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