[NYTr] Miami Gusano Desperados Spewing Rumors of Fidel's Death - Again
 
Date: Sat, 25 Aug 2007 18:45:14 -0500 (CDT)


Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
Chicago Sun-Times - Aug 25, 2007
http://www.suntimes.com/news/world/528002,CST-NWS-cuba25.article

Is Castro alive? Cuba says yes, Miami gossip no

BY LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ

MIAMI -- The official word in Cuba is that Fidel Castro is still very
much alive -- but you'd never know that on the streets of Miami.

Premature rumors of Castro's death are a staple in this heavily
Cuban-exile city. But their frequency has intensified in recent days
after his 81st birthday came and went Aug. 13 with neither pictures,
letters nor recordings from him.

Friday, the rumors were pushed into overdrive by a meeting of local
officials to go over their plans for when Castro really dies and a road
closure in the Florida Keys that was actually due to a police standoff.

A circular game ensued with radio stations reporting the rumors, citing
TV stations, which cited the rumors on the street.

Sandra Avila, an executive at a design firm, said clients and vendors
called all day asking about the rumors.

''I've heard the rumors before, but there's a different feeling this
time, like this time it's real,'' she said.

The rumor mill took off a year ago when the Cuban leader announced he
would turn power over to his brother Raul because of an intestinal
illness. Since then, Castro, who has ruled Cuba for nearly 48 years,
has not been seen in public.

In Cuba, officials remained tightlipped.

''Fidel is doing very well and is disciplined in his recovery
process,'' Cuban foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said Thursday.

On official television, there was no hint of trouble. A rerun of the
hit NBC series ''Friends'' played Friday.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. 

 
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