Report: Fidel Castro suffered relapse in January

[Jimmy2]

BY RENATO PEREZ

Fidel Castro suffered a relapse in January and was unable to welcome a couple of visiting Latin American leaders, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa told the Spanish news agency EFE on Sunday.

Castro ''was in very delicate health,'' Correa said, when asked why he did not meet with the Cuban leader. Correa added that he ''was told some confidential things at that time'' but declined to share them with EFE.

Castro ''had had a relapse, that is why neither [Panamanian President] Martín Torrijos nor I could see Fidel, because the state of his health was delicate. Later he improved,'' Correa said.

Correa visited Cuba Jan 7-11; Torrijos was there Jan. 3-6. The fact that neither man met with Castro heightened observers' curiosity, because Castro had not written his regular news columns for several weeks at the time.

Also, his message to the nation on Dec. 31, the eve of the Revolution's 50th birthday, had been uncharacteristically short (one sentence) suggesting he was indisposed.

Castro resurfaced on Jan. 21, when he met with visiting Argentine President Cristina Fernández.