Leading Spanish surgeon to treat Castro
A renowned Spanish surgeon has been rushed to Cuba to try to stop a steady deterioration in President Fidel Castro’s health, a Spanish newspaper reported Sunday.
Intestinal specialist Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido planned to perform tests to see if Castro needed another operation after undergoing emergency surgery for intestinal bleeding in July, said Spain’s El Periodico de Catalunya, citing hospital sources.
The doctor’s chartered plane was carrying advanced medical equipment not available in Cuba when it left Thursday, the newspaper reported.
Officials at Madrid’s Gregorio Maranon Hospital, where Garcia Sabrido is head of surgery, declined to comment, as did the Cuban Embassy in Madrid.
Garcia Sabrido was among doctors who presented their work at a surgery conference in Havana last month, according to the conference’s website.
Cuban officials say Castro is not dying and will return to public life. But he has skipped recent public appearances, including a belated celebration of his 80th birthday, and appeared to be frail and walking with difficulty in video released in October.
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