The government in Brasilia later denied the report.
According to official statements Monday from Havana, Castro temporarily handed the reins of government to his brother and hand- picked successor, Raul, after undergoing surgery for an intestinal haemorrhage blamed on stress from recent overseas travel.
The Brazilian daily Folha de Sao Paulo cited normally reliable sources in the government in Brasilia as saying that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was notified from Havana about the elder Castro's medical condition. A leftist with lifelong good relations with the Cuban regime, Lula was supposedly told that Castro, 79, has a serious, malignant abdominal tumour.
'It looks as if we're going to lose our friend,' Lula reportedly told a close associate.
Lula's office issued an official statement denouncing the newspaper report as without 'any foundation whatsoever.' Neither Cuban authorities nor any other source has notified Lula about a diagnosis as reported in the paper, the statement said.
Even if Castro survives, he is unlikely to be fit to resume the leadership of Cuba, according to Folha de Sao Paulo. The communist leader, who turns 80 on August 13, has ruled the island for 47 years since the Cuban revolution.
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