U.S. legislators indicate Castro does not have cancer

Source: Xinhuanet | 12-19-2006 15:55

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. lawmakers, who just wrapped up a three-day visit to Cuba, said on Monday that Cuban officials had denied Fidel Castro was suffering from cancer.

The U.S. delegation, grouping 10 legislators, told U.S. media that all the Cuban officials they had talked to said the Cuban leader did not have cancer or a terminal disease, and he would come back.

Castro temporarily ceded power to Cuban Defense Minister Raul Castro after undergoing an intestinal surgery in July. His longtime absence from politics has fueled speculation that the Cuban leader might be suffering from cancer or a terminal disease.

The mission, the largest U.S. congressional delegation to visit the Caribbean country since the 1959 Cuban Revolution, was aimed at seeking to establish a dialogue mechanism with Cuba and ushering in a new epoch in U.S.-Cuban relations, according to the legislators.

The mission was led by U.S. Representative Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, and William Delahunt, a Massachusetts Democrat, both advocating easing the U.S. trade and travel embargoes on Cuba.

The lawmakers, who arrived in Havana on Friday, talked with Cuban National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon, Minister of Basic Industry Yadira Garcia Vera, Minister of Foreign Affairs Felipe Ramon Perez Roque and other officials.

In a statement, the lawmakers called on the U.S. government on Sunday to change its policy toward Cuba and open dialogue between the two countries.

Before the visit, Raul Castro, who is also Cuba's Vice President of the Council of State, indicated willingness to open talks with Washington to settle the disputes between the two countries, but he did not meet the visiting U.S. lawmakers.

 

Editor:Ji Xuewen