POSTED: 4:06 p.m. EST, December 24, 2006
(CNN) -- A Spanish surgeon has traveled to Havana to consider what steps
should be taken to halt the deterioration of Cuban President Fidel
Castro's health, a Spanish newspaper reported Sunday.
Dr. Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido, chief of surgery at the Spanish public
hospital Gregorio Maranon de Madrid, departed Thursday for Cuba aboard
an airplane the Cuban government chartered, El Periodico de Catalunya
reported.
The Cuban Embassy in Spain oversaw all details of the visit, the paper said.
The plane also carried medical equipment, some of which is not available
in Havana, in case surgical interventions or new therapeutic treatments
are needed, the article said.
Though the doctor had been briefed by the medical team that is treating
Castro, he wanted to perform his own examination before deciding if
another form of treatment is appropriate, the newspaper said.
Garcia Sabrido is a specialist in general surgery who last month led a
conference at the 9th Cuban Congress of Surgery in Havana.
Although Castro's doctors have not revealed the diagnosis, North
American experts have raised the possibility he is suffering from a form
of cancer in or around the abdomen. (Cuban officials deny Castro has
terminal illness)
Castro underwent intestinal surgery on July 31, according to The
Associated Press, and has not been seen in public since.
In November, the president bowed out of an appearance for his 80th
birthday party because he was too ill.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has visited with Castro and denies the
diagnosis involves cancer.
The president of Brazil, Luis Inacio da Silva, told a group of
journalists Saturday that he plans to visit Castro in Cuba in the middle
of January.
Cuban government officials told a U.S. congressional delegation last
week that Castro is not dying and does not have cancer, a member of the
delegation said.
In late July, Castro temporarily handed over power to his brother Raul
Castro, the country's longtime defense minister. (Read full story about
Raul and Fidel).
The change in leadership caused fierce speculation over whether Fidel
Castro was close to death.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/12/24/castro.health/index.html
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