Castro back in public eye to quell rumours of demise

Fidel Castro, who appeared in public for the first time in six months amid a swirl of rumours he was dead or dying, blasted the reports as rubbish in a sarcastic editorial in state media yesterday.

Castro, who left power in a health crisis in 2006 after almost five decades at Cuba’s helm, said US and international media had reported “the most singular garbage” about his health, claiming “I can’t recall when I last had a headache”.

“As a sign of how untrue these reports are, I am sending along a few photos with this article,” Castro wrote, under the cheeky headline “Fidel Castro is on his death bed.”

In the nine pictures, Castro is shown in a blue and red checked shirt, in a field, wearing a jaunty farmer’s hat to protect him from the sun. Several show him using a cane to walk. The images ran yesterday in state media.

Fidel Castro also addressed his change in publishing habits; he stopped writing his column Reflections on Jun 19, which in itself fuelled rumours he was unwell.

“I stopped publishing (my column) because surely it is not my job to fill up the pages of our press, which needs to address other work the country had to get done,” Castro wrote.

Castro, who rose to power after the 1959 revolution, ceded the presidency to his younger brother Raul, 81, in Jul 2006 for health reasons.

Castro had not been seen in public since Mar 28, when Pope Benedict paid a landmark visit to Cuba, and again briefly the following week on Apr 5 with Chilean student leader Camila Vallejo.

That fuelled rumours his health had worsened, that he was dead or on his death bed — particularly since Castro also had not published one of his usually frequent editorials in official state media since Jun 19.

In the past five years since falling ill after serious intestinal surgery, Castro has penned about 400 editorials as well as books about the revolution, and welcomed a few international leaders in private events.

Last week, he sent a letter of congratulations to medical school graduates which was picked up in state media, but he did not appear in public at the time.