Havana – In the first independent diagnosis of Fidel Castro, a prominent Spanish surgeon said Tuesday that the ailing 80-year-old leader does not have cancer and is recuperating slowly from intestinal surgery.
Dr. Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido traveled to Havana on Thursday to examine Castro at the request of Cuban authorities. Garcia Sabrido has returned to Madrid, where he told reporters that Castro’s condition is stable and that he does not require additional surgery.
But Garcia Sabrido declined to clarify what ailment Castro is suffering from. Cuban officials have said Castro’s health condition is a state secret, and his Cuban doctors reportedly are sequestered.
“Fidel Castro does not suffer from any malignancy,” Garcia Sabrido said at Madrid’s Gregorio Maranon hospital, where he is chief surgeon. “It is a benign process in which he has suffered a series of complications.”
Garcia Sabrido said Castro’s mind is active and clear, and he could return to power if he recovers completely.
A U.S. diplomat in Havana who asked not to be identified said she heard Garcia Sabrido’s diagnosis but declined to comment about “a statement from a private physician.” Cuba’s state-run television did not cover the story in its Tuesday afternoon newscast.
Castro’s health condition has been a mystery since Cuban authorities announced in late July that the nation’s long-serving leader suffered intestinal bleeding, underwent surgery and ceded power temporarily to his younger brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro.
In a statement signed July 31, Castro attributed his illness to a heavy work and travel schedule. He has said little else since then.
In recent months, Vice President Carlos Lage and other officials have asserted that Castro is not suffering from cancer, but they have offered no evidence to back up their statements.
Castro has not been seen in public since late July, and the few photographs and videos of him carried in the media showed him to be thin and fragile.
