Fidel Castro has a malignant stomach tumor and will never get back to power, according to Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulo, which cites a source inside the Brazilian government.
According to the newspaper from São Paulo, in the Brazilian Southeast, Cuban authorities have told President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the leadership of the ruling Workers Party (PT) that the health condition of Castro is much worse than what has been admitted publicly.
Folha cites Lula telling one aide: "It seems like we are going to lose our friend."
According to the Folha report, the news left the Brazilian President dejected. Lula asked his team to be discreet. He also commented that Fidel is a strong man and that he was rooting for his recovery.
The article, signed by Kennedy Alencar, goes on to say that the Brazilian government believes that Cuban Foreign Relations Minister, Felipe Pérez Roque, 41, is the strongest name to form with Raúl Castro, 75, the backbone of a new power structure in Cuba.
The Brazilian government, however, has denied any inside knowledge about the Cuban president’s disease. A Lula’s spokesman said that Brazil has not received any information from Cuba or any other country about the diagnosis mentioned by Folha de S. Paulo.