Castro health fears 'played down'

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A Spanish newspaper report that ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is in a serious condition after three failed operations has been strongly denied.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said his close ally's recovery would be slow and had risks but refuted the "very grave prognosis" reported by El Pais.

A Spanish surgeon who travelled to Cuba last month to examine Mr Castro said the report was "without foundation".

Mr Castro has not been seen in public since undergoing surgery in July.

The authorities in Havana have said Mr Castro's health is a state secret, but have rejected speculation that he is suffering from cancer or a terminal illness.

In December, he missed a massive military parade in Havana marking 50 years since his return from exile.

In his New Year message, he said he was recovering slowly from the surgery, but said it would be a "long process".

'Nothing new'

The Cuban leader is said to be suffering from diverticulitis, a condition in which bulges in the walls of the intestine become inflamed and sometimes infected.

President Castro - who has temporarily handed power to his brother Raul - has a serious intestinal infection and "at least three failed operations and various complications have left him laid up with a very grave prognosis", El Pais newspaper said.

It cited two unnamed sources at the Gregorio Maranon hospital in Madrid, where Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido, who flew to Cuba in December to examine Mr Castro, is head of surgery.

FAILED OPERATIONS Part of intestine removed - colon connected to rectumCleaning and draining of infected areaProsthesis implanted <i>Source: El Pais</i> <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/diverticulardisease1.shtml" class="">Diverticulitis</a> <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/peritonitis1.shtml" class="">Peritonitis</a>

According to the publication, when Mr Garcia Sabrido visited the president, he had an abdominal wound which was releasing more than half a litre of fluids a day, causing a serious loss of nutrients.

The Cuban leader was being fed intravenously, El Pais reported.

Dr Garcia Sabrido said on Tuesday that he was not the source of the story.

"Any statement that doesn't come directly from his [Mr Castro's] medical team is without foundation," he told CNN television.

The Venezuelan leader, who spoke to Mr Castro by telephone earlier this month, also said his ally was not "in a serious condition as some say, nor does he have cancer".

"He said [to me] it's a slow recovery process not without risk. He's 80 years old."

In Washington, a White House spokesman said the report was "nothing new" and that it was "sort of a round-up of previous health reports".