Time magazine is reporting that Cuban leader Fidel Castro could have terminal cancer, according to sources within the U.S. government:

U.S. officials tell TIME that many in the U.S. government are now convinced that Castro, 80, has terminal cancer and will never return to power. “Certainly we have heard this, that this guy has terminal cancer,” said one U.S. official.

Of course, such intelligence reports could be wrong, and one official cautioned that definitive proof is nearly impossible for the U.S. to come by. Yet the fact that the Cuban government removed Castro from the public stage before his death could suggest that Castro and his would-be successors were aware of a terminal condition and wanted to gauge public reaction to his absence. “They got to see how people would react,” says one U.S. official. “They have had a chance to see how things might work without out him functioning day-to-day.”

The Cuban government is denying allegations that Castro is in his last days, stating one official, “The United States Intelligence Services have been wrong for more than 47 years in their predictions not only in relation to the health of the Cuban President but also in all aspects regarding our country.”

Via / Time