VZCZCXRO6050
RR RUEHAG
DE RUEHUB #7059 2411212
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 291212Z AUG 06
FM USINT HAVANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4343
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 017059 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/29/2016 
TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI CU
SUBJECT: RUMOR CONTROL: FIDEL SAID TO UNDERGO NEW OPERATION 
 
 
Classified By: COM Michael Parmly for Reason 1.4(d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: As would be expected, Havana is awash in 
rumors over the health of Fidel Castro.  One, from a 
dissident who has provided accurate information in the past, 
says Castro underwent follow-up surgery between August 24 and 
26, but that no other details are available.  Our suspicion 
that Castro is being treated at Havana's elite "CIMEQ" 
hospital is strengthened, following an AmCit's report on a 
visit by GOC officials to his rented house, facing CIMEQ. 
Dissidents are absorbing with great interest other reports 
and rumors about Castro, including a statement from the Cuban 
Liberal Union in Madrid that Castro has colon cancer.  Some 
of the dictator's relatives in exile have reportedly 
discussed Castro suffering from pancreatic cancer, while a 
separate rumor posits that Castro is receiving chemotherapy 
and will soon see his hair and beard fall out.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) Cuban dissident Gerardo Sanchez, brother of Elizardo 
Sanchez of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National 
Reconciliation, told Poloff on August 27 that he had heard 
that between August 24 and 26, Fidel Castro underwent surgery 
for his undisclosed medical condition.  This would be a 
follow-up to the surgery he had at the end of July, prompting 
the July 31 "proclamation" that put Raul Castro in charge. 
Gerardo Sanchez, who is widely connected and has provided 
accurate information to USINT in the past, said he heard the 
same rumor from three sources: one in the Health Ministry, 
another in the Catholic Church and another who is close to a 
member of Castro's personal bodyguard. 
 
¶3. (C) The Cuban Government has not disclosed where Castro is 
being treated, but the theory that he is at Havana's elite 
CIMEQ hospital is strengthened by what our RSO heard recently 
regarding an Amcit businessman living in a rental house in 
front of CIMEQ.  According to the Amcit, who makes frequent 
visits to Havana, GOC officials stopped by the house on 
August 24 and asked a neighbor about the foreigner staying 
there.  The move may reflect a heightened security 
environment. 
 
¶4. (C) Cuba's dissident community is abuzz over other 
statements and unsubstantiated rumors connected with Castro's 
incapacitation.  Of keen interest is a report from Madrid 
dated August 27 that quotes Antonio Guedes, vice president of 
the Cuban Liberal Union, as saying that according to sources 
that the Union cannot identify, doctors are treating Castro 
for colon cancer and that for the GOC, this marks "the 
beginning of the end."  Sources close to some of Castro's 
relatives in exile have referred to speculation of pancreatic 
cancer, which is viewed as more aggressive than some other 
forms.  Separately, a rumor is circulating that Castro is 
receiving chemotherapy and that his hair and beard will soon 
start to fall out. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶5. (C) The regime does not calm the rumor mill with its 
periodic announcements that Fidel Castro is recuperating.  He 
could be at CIMEQ, where VIPs are treated, or at a special 
clinic at his "Ground Zero" estate in the western Havana 
suburb of Siboney, which is close to CIMEQ in any case.  Our 
best guess, putting together all the rumors and the film 
footage from Hugo Chavez's August 13-14 visit, is that Fidel 
Castro has one or more terminal conditions that will prevent 
him from returning to his hyperactive-leader role.  Our best 
estimate of Raul Castro is that he consults with Fidel 
regularly, or at least understands that he has to go through 
the motions of consulting with him as long as Fidel is alive. 
PARMLY