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CIA Says Fidel Castro Has Parkinson's Cuban Officials Say Castro Is In Excellent Health
POSTED: 11:40 pm EST November 15, 2005 UPDATED: 8:28 pm EST November 16, 2005
MIAMI -- According to the Miami Herald, the Central Intelligence Agency has concluded that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro suffers from Parkinson's disease.
Those same reports indicate that the CIA has warned political leaders in North America to be prepared should Castro's health deteriorate rapidly.
The paper quotes a CIA source as saying, "About one year ago, we started seeing some pretty definitive stuff that he had Parkinson's."
An anonymous state department official said, "...he is not the same person he was five years ago."
Rumors that Castro suffers from Parkinson's have been around since the mid-1990s.
In 2001, Castro was caught on tape fainting during a speech in Havana. In August 2004, the 79-year-old tripped and fell during a public appearance.
In the Herald article, professor Frank O. Mora of the National War College, said, "For Fidel to start shaking in a real and substantial way in public sends a powerful message to people around the world."
There has been no independent confirmation of Castro's illness or any indication of how the CIA came to this conclusion. Cuban officials say Castro is in excellent health.
Miami-Dade County is already prepared should the Cuban leader take a turn for the worse. In 2001, then-Mayor Alex Penelas talked about the plans in place.
"Our crisis management plan really concentrates on two primary issues. One, celebration and demonstration. And secondly, to deal with the issue of mass migration," Penelas said.
Miami-Dade's plan covers expected festivities in over 20 pre-designated areas, potential terrorist acts, and a possible increase in migration.
Castro's brother, Raul, has already been tapped as his successor.
The CIA and the State Department have not commented on the Herald's report.
South Floridians, Cuba Experts Say Illness Not Unexpected
Cuba experts, watchers and scholars in Little Havana said they are amused by the story that Castro has Parkinson's because this is something a lot of people said they have known since the late 1990s and they wonder why it is coming out now.
"I think the intelligence community has known about it for a while. They maybe couldn't confirm it, but they had indications. They saw that he was sick. There were problems you could see -- he's passed out. He's fainted," Cuba expert Paul Crespo said.
Crespo said the CIA information is also no surprise to Castro's inner circle
"They're the ones holding him up and propping him up at meetings and watching him fall asleep in the middle of a TV show," Crespo said.
"I think he's going to be in power even with Parkinson's, in a wheelchair and lying in a bed. He will be in power. The only way he'll be out of power is if he dies or something happens to him," said Manrique Iriarte, a Cuban-American.
-------------------- Spend Word For Word With Me And I Shall Make Your Wit Bankrupt.
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I wonder what trouble they expect. The death of Castro will most likely be the death of communism in Cuba. He's been the key that's held it together much as the former Yugoslav leader.
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The only thing that pops to mind is they think someone worse is waiting in the wings... Of course they said the same thing about Milosovich and a few others.
-------------------- Spend Word For Word With Me And I Shall Make Your Wit Bankrupt.
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"How many ways there are to steal in this country!" Castro exclaimed during the nationally televised address, which lasted 5 1/2 hours.
The Cuban president also dismissed reports that some U.S. officials believe he suffers from Parkinson's disease — and stretched out a steady arm for the camera as proof. "Look at the Parkinson's!" he said sarcastically.
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