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Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told the AP that Fidel Castro may not return to power in December, as previously reported. It only fuels more speculation that Castro's health is in more peril than the Cuban government lets on.

 

Have we heard anything lately on this?

Don't take much credence, as anything the Cuban government says isn't worth the paper its printed on.

 

They could be being cautious and having Castro make a miraculous recovery in time to seize power once more, or they could be finally realizing the guy's dying. Either way it's a statement with plenty of underground message.

He has to be doing poorly. Otherwise they would be parading him around for a week in defiance of whatever they call America there now.

WASHINGTON -- The government believes Fidel Castro's health is deteriorating and that the Cuban dictator is unlikely to live through 2007.

 

That dire view was reinforced last week when Cuba's foreign minister backed away from his prediction the ailing Castro would return to power by early December. ``It's a subject on which I don't want to speculate,'' Felipe Perez Roque told The Associated Press in Havana.

 

U.S. government officials say there is still some mystery about Castro's diagnosis, his treatment and how he is responding. But these officials believe the 80-year-old leader has cancer of the stomach, colon or pancreas.

 

He was seen weakened and thinner in official state photos released late last month, and it is considered unlikely that he will return to power or survive through the end of next year, said the U.S. government and defense officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the politically sensitive topic.

 

With chemotherapy, Castro may live up to 18 months, said the defense official. Without it, expected survival would drop to three months to eight months.

 

American officials will not talk publicly about how they glean clues to Castro's health. But U.S. spy agencies include physicians who study pictures, video, public statements and other information coming out of Cuba.

 

A planned celebration of Castro's 80th birthday next month is expected to draw international attention. The Cuban leader had planned to attend the public event, which already had been postponed once from his Aug. 13 birthday.

tick-tock Fidel...

OK, so with the code-word "chemotherapy", I guess he has cancer. I don't care who you are, but Parkinson's + cancer = a very painful death.

More in depth article from the Herald on Castro's illness beyond the AP story. It looks like the Cuban government continues to insist that Castro is recovering (per Alarc?n's comments) but also continues to lay the groundwork for a possible turn for the worse.