RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Jan. 19, 2007
Chavez: Castro "Battling For His Life"
Venezuelan President Compares Cuban Leader's Recovery Efforts To His Struggles As A Guerrilla Fighter
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In an image from the Web site for Granma, Cuba's Communist Party Newspaper, Fidel Castro, right, meets with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, Sunday Aug. 13, 2006. (AP Photo/Estudios Revolucion)
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Fast Facts Cuba Learn about the people, economy and history.
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Interactive Fidel Castro And Cuba Find out more about the communist country and the fiery leader who led the Cuban Revolution.
Chavez, a close ally and admirer of Castro, compared the Cuban leader's attempt to recover from an unspecified medical condition to the 1950s, when Castro was a guerrilla in Cuba's eastern mountains fighting the government he would overthrow.
"Fidel is in the Sierra Maestra again, battling for his life," Chavez said after attending a summit of South American leaders in Rio.
Castro, 80, has not been seen in public since shortly before July 31 when he announced he was temporarily stepping aside while he recovered from an operation.
He has provisionally ceded power to his brother Raul, the 75-year-old defense minister.
Castro's medical condition is a state secret, but Cuban authorities deny he suffers from terminal cancer, as U.S. intelligence officials have claimed. Cuban officials have nonetheless stopped insisting Castro will return to power.
In a speech Wednesday night, Chavez called Castro's situation "delicate" but dismissed as speculation recent Spanish press reports portraying Castro as near death after three failed operations and complications from the intestinal infection diverticulitis.
On Friday, Chavez said he could not give more details about Castro's condition "because I'm not the doctor who's caring for Fidel."
He added: "And if I was, I wouldn't anyway, but nevertheless I can tell you: I don't know when Fidel will die, I hope he lives 80 more years, I hope he lives 100 more years."
Chavez is known for making bold statements without elaborating.
Also Friday, he accused his nation's main telecommunications company of spying on him, apparently at the bidding of the United States.
Chavez, addressing 10 South American leaders gathered at a summit of the Mercosur trade bloc, gave no additional details.
The accusation came less than two weeks after Chavez announced he would nationalize the telecommunications company, CA Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela — CANTV.
The company issued a statement late Friday denying the charges. Brian Penn, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, declined to comment.
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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- Some people are able to stand by and watch people being bullied, raped or oppressed. Thankfully the USA went to the aid of the oppressed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Unfortunately the countries that didn%u2019t chip in were fearful of losing their oil%u2026 It was all a mater of greed. If the entire world community told the bullies to stop there would have been less bloodshed and the disaster that now exists would never happen.
Posted by canadian2000 at 07:37 AM : Jan 21, 2007
What an incredibly ignorant and ill informed statement. Do you ever watch anything but FOX News? The disaster that exists now is because of Bush, not in spite of him. - Reply to this comment
- Some people are able to stand by and watch people being bullied, raped or oppressed. Thankfully the USA went to the aid of the oppressed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Unfortunately the countries that didn%u2019t chip in were fearful of losing their oil%u2026 It was all a mater of greed. If the entire world community told the bullies to stop there would have been less bloodshed and the disaster that now exists would never happen.
- Reply to this comment
- Castro may have meant well for his country by using communistic values. Unfortunately, communism only comes to be with much death, oppression and control by fear. Freedom emotionally and physically is non-existent. I live next door to the USA, they are not perfect and have made many mistakes, but I do not see Americans risking their lives and those of their children in attempts to escape from their country like rats from a sinking ship. My heart goes out to the Cubans and I wish they could experience the freedom that I so often take for granted. I can voice my feelings openly against our political leaders without fear and still better I can vote or run for office if I do not like what I see. I will not be imprisoned nor will my family be put at risk. Castro does not respect life, but uses communism to hold on to his position of leadership. Technology now allows the oppressed to see what the rest of the world has. Communistic and religious fundamentalist leaders will eventually lose their control when the desire for freedom becomes greater then that of fear.
- Reply to this comment
- "The so called PRogressives and CNN etc. always brag about the wonderful Health care and Doctors in Cuba."
Who said the doctors are wonderful in Cuba? Cuba's dirt poor. No one expects the doctors to be great. If you want to compare countries with the US and those that have socialized medicine, then compare apples to apples - western European socialized medicicine to the US's system. - Reply to this comment
- Oh, and another thing. Yeah, I'm glad you're all "Bush lied us into Iraq, boohoo". Spoken like someone who has given nothing personally for this glorious campaign of Dear Leader. I'm sure the parents of the 3000+ dead appreciate your concern that their kids are dead for a war that shouldn't have happened. Thanks again heartless @ssh0le.
The selfishness of you righties never ceases to amaze me. - Reply to this comment
- mrvolleyba11, I know it bugs you that the Dems pushed through all that social legislation that helps regular people instead of the rich and the oil comapnies. I'm sure you are angry that Dems did more in 100 hours to help regular people than the Repubs did in six years. You are also probably mad that all those rich people in Congress are being forced by Dems to work a full five days now instead of three. So, it sounds like you are the sore loser, not me.
Maybe some day you will realize that not everyone is poor or uneducated because they are too lazy or too stupid to get a better life. Cr@p schools lead to poor or no education because the government won't spend money to get them up to grade with their suburban counterparts. Cr@p jobs because the government is too busy outsourcing good jobs to India. Sometimes people get a raw deal due to no fault of their own and need the government to help. Some people cheat, but many do not and need assistance. Instead, our government gives huge tax braks to the rich and to the oil companies. Because we all know the CEO of Exxon needs a 400 million dollar payday. But a heartless @ssh0le like yourself probably won't get a thing I'm saying. - Reply to this comment
- "What a shame, socialized medicine couldn't save him. He should have come to U.S. for a good doctor like everyone else"
LOL, maybe he should have gone to France. According to a World Health Organization study France's healthcare system was ranked #1 in the world. Guess what it's SOCIALIZED! America was #37. I bet Castro is glad he doesn't live in the US, like many Americans he might have to travel to Canada to get affordable prescription drugs. - Reply to this comment
- Rafterman1 your an idiot!
...the rants of a sore loser!!! wah we were lied too, wah I hate bush, wah i can't marry my "life partner", wah it's the communists fault I dropped out of high school, I only make minimum wage, and I'm a loser, wah, wah, wah!!! - Reply to this comment
- What a shame, socialized Medicine could not save him. He should have come to the US for a good Doctor like everybody else.
We better get his cigars before Clinton gets ahold of them. - Reply to this comment
- Nice to see the small-minded Republishit cheering section is awake early this morning.
I've got your liberal breakfast swinging right here, processor2. - Reply to this comment
- Wow. Who'd a thought we'd be listening to kids argue when there is such great room here for mature conversation?
- Reply to this comment
- Oh look, how cute
They're wearing red just like the liberals in this country when protesting some nonsense.
............ - Reply to this comment
- "They're wearing red just like the liberals in this country when protesting some nonsense"
Yeah. "Nonsense" like the erosion of our freedoms and lying us into a war that makes us less secure than ever. Nonsense like that. But what I don't understand is why you don't wear red too since you so mindlessly support the current communists who inhabit the White House right now. I mean, they must be communists since so many of their policies try to imitate Stalin at his worst. - Reply to this comment
- Goodbye, Fidel!
...and take Noam Chomsky's pet, Hugo Chavez with you! - Reply to this comment
- Oh look, how cute
They're wearing red just like the liberals in this country when protesting some nonsense.
............ - Reply to this comment
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