Fidel Castro isn't dead despite what reports and rumors are saying. Rumors about the former President of Cuba are swirling around social media and the media. Some have claimed that leader has died while some reports said he had a stroke and is close to death, yet these rumors may not be true.
Castro, 86, certainly isn't dead. Users on Twitter have been passing around messages saying that he died, yet this has not been confirmed. Twitter user @GobCubaExter wrote "COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF FIDEL CASTRO RUZ HAS DIED. An official announcement will be published later." This tweet has spread across the social network several times.
Recent reports said that Castro suffered from a stroke and others believe he is in a coma.
José Marquina, a doctor who also claimed to have direct information about President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, said that Castro "suffered an embolic stroke and recognizes absolutely no one," according to The Miami Herald.
"The people with a condition of this nature have difficulty eating and, of course, they end up with total deficit in their neurologic capacities," Marquina continued. This statement has led people to believe that Castro is on his death bed and can't eat, speak or recognize people.
Marquina says that Castro may only have a few weeks to live at most.
"He could last weeks like that, but what I can say is that we'll never again see him in public," said Marquina. "He is not receiving artificial respiration and is not connected to tubes, as some have said. What's probably true is that Castro is being fed through nasogastric tubes."
Castro has not made a public appearance since March, when Pope Pope Benedict XVI visited Cuba. Sources claim that he hasn't written his usual opinion columns and he didn't even send Chávez a message, congratulating him on his election victory.
However, Marquina said that Chávez flew to Havana to visit Castro at his home in El Laguit, Havana to check up on his condition.
Yet the Associated Press published a report saying that Marquina's claims may not be true at all. AP says that Castro recently wrote a letter to medical school graduates on Thursday which was published by state media and his family has denied the claims that he died or that he's on the verge of death.
According to AP, Castro's sister, Juanita Castro said that the reports were "pure rumors" and "absurd." His son, Alex Castro said his father "is well, going about his daily life."
AP also says that Marquina has made claims before that have turned out to be false. When the AP contacted Marquina, he said his sources were in Venezuela, but he wouldn't say who they were or how they could possibly know about Castro's condition. Marquina even said he had evidence from Twitter but would not reveal those sources either.
Marquina's claims are starting to seem a bit bogus, but is Castro did suffer from an embolic stroke, the 86-year-old may not be able to recover.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
