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January 16, 2004
Rumors of Castro's Death May or May Not be Greatly Exaggerated

Yesterday, the Seattle Times had this story:

The leftist mayor of Colombia's capital city, who met recently with Fidel Castro in Havana, said yesterday the Cuban president appeared "very sick" during their talks. "He seemed very sick to me," Mayor Luis Eduardo Garzon told Radio Caracol of his December visit to Havana. "You could see he had physical limitations, especially in his speech."

Castro did not go to the 13th Ibero-American summit in Bolivia in November, a venue at which he usually basks in the limelight among admirers of his defiance of the United States. Castro also waited three days this year to celebrate the 45th anniversary of his New Year's Day triumph over the regime of Fulgencio Batista in 1959.

Today, the Miami Herald reports that rumors of Castro's death are flying:

Uncorroborated rumors that Cuban President Fidel Castro had died or suffered a stroke buzzed around Miami-Dade County on Friday, with anxious callers inundating police departments, media outlets and exile groups.

....

The latest rumor -- something that has occurred frequently over the years -- appear to have been spawned from comments published Wednesday from Luis Eduardo Garzón, the leftist mayor of Bogota, Colombia. He said that Castro appeared to be ''very sick'' during their talks in late December.

Cuban American National Foundation executive director Joe called the rumors "wishful thinking."

Posted by Michele at January 16, 2004 08:54 PM | TrackBack
Comments

Mans been dyin of old age for 20 years.

Posted by: Mark Buehner at January 16, 2004 11:32 PM

Something in them cigars, I'm sure.

Posted by: Cap'n SPIN at January 18, 2004 10:56 AM

So is this the real castro who died, or the CIA operative we put in there in 1981? ;)

Posted by: eric at January 18, 2004 11:17 PM

OK, I've seen this pattern a few times in the past. Stalinist dictator rumored to be sick = stalinist dictator hiding from his soon-to-be-successor's "voting apparatus".

There is some ambiguity here though. In the old Soviet system when the voting was taking place it was always just a simple cold.

Posted by: Warmonger at January 19, 2004 11:29 AM

Oh, Eric, you are funny!

Posted by: Carol in California at January 21, 2004 05:17 PM

Castro dying, eh? That explains why Dennis Kucinich has decided to also skip New Hampshire and start campaigning in Cuba.

Posted by: munger at January 22, 2004 01:31 AM

Why does the mention of Kucenich campaigning in Cuba bring the name 'Monica' to mind? I'm sure Fidel would be more than happy to pass a FatBoy around...

Posted by: Cap'n SPIN at January 22, 2004 11:15 AM

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