Fidel Castro 'dismayed' by death of Gabriel García Márquez

Fidel Castro 'dismayed' by death of Gabriel García Márquez

Cuban first vice-president says former leader 'feels the loss of his friends', after Castro's silence fuels rumours about his own health

Associated Press in Havana
theguardian.com, Friday 25 April 2014 14.04 EDT


[font size=1]
Fidel Castro (right) and Gabriel Garcia Marquez in Havana in 2002. The two were close for
years after García Márquez went to Cuba to work for Prensa Latina, the state news agency.
Photograph: Jose Goitia/AP[/font]

Fidel Castro was hit hard by last week's death of long-time friend and Nobel prize-winning Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez, Cuba's first vice-president said on Friday.

Speaking in Havana as he signed a book of condolence at the Colombian embassy, Miguel Diaz-Canel said Castro was dismayed.

"Fidel is a man of great human sensibility, so he feels the loss of his friends," Diaz-Canel told reporters. "But he is also a man who is very seasoned by all the battles he has had to fight … he also has a resilience for such problems."

The former Cuban president, now 87, has not commented publicly on the author's death, though he sent flowers to a memorial ceremony in Mexico City, where the author lived for the final three decades of his life.

More:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/25/gabrielgarciamarquez-fidel-castro