The Castro death-watch

Renato Pérez Pizarro of the Miami Herald‘s Cuban Colada blog has a round-up of recent signs that Fidel Castro’s health has taken a serious turn for the worse. Castro hasn’t written his regular newspaper column since Dec. 15 or been photographed since Nov. 18. His friend and ally Hugo Chavez says he is unlikely to ever appear in public again. Perhaps most significantly, the leader who never spoke for five minutes when five hours would do, didn’t make any public statements for the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution and released a very un-Fidel-like one sentence statement.

South Florida police are already discussing post-Fidel celebrations with local Cuban community leaders. The signs are certainly there right now, though I remember similar preparations being made during Castro’s stomach surgery in 2006 and no one ever got rich betting against Castro’s ability to hang in there. The 11th U.S. president since Castro took power will enter office next week and I have a feeling he won’t want to miss it.