CUBA:A Spanish surgeon who examined Cuban leader Fidel Castro said yesterday that he was making a good recovery from intestinal surgery, did not have cancer and could resume governing his country.
Castro's disappearance from public view after emergency surgery for intestinal bleeding last July sparked frenzied speculation about his state of health, but surgeon José Luís Garcia Sabrido said that the communist leader was in good condition.
"His physical activity is excellent, his intellectual activity intact, I'd say fantastic. He is recovering from his previous operation," Garcia Sabrido, head of surgery at Madrid's Gregorio Maranon public hospital, told a news conference after returning to Spain from Cuba.
"He asks every day to return to work, but doctors advise him not to, to take it easy," Garcia Sabrido said.
Garcia Sabrido, who flew to Cuba last week to examine him , said that Castro (80) did not need further surgery, although he did require continuing physical therapy, a strict diet and rest.
"He does not have cancer, he has a problem with his digestive system," Garcia Sabrido said.
In Havana, Cuban officials declined to comment on the surgeon's statement, but his prognosis was in line what they have been saying for months.
US intelligence chief John Negroponte told the Washington Post on December 15th that Castro was likely to die within months.Garcia Sabrido said Castro could govern Cuba again.
Defence minister Raul Castro (75) took control of the government on July 31st when surgery forced his brother to relinquish power for the first time since Cuba's 1959 revolution. - ( Reuters)