Fidel Castro denies split in Cuban government

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

HAVANA (AFP) — Fidel Castro has strongly denied rumors that he is the leader of a faction of hardline Communists disgruntled about reforms introduced in Cuba since his brother Raul took over as president.

"I am not now, nor will I ever be at the head of any group or faction. Therefore, it can't follow that there is infighting in the party," Castro said in commentary appearing on the official Cubadebate website.

While the ailing 81-year-old former president did not explain what prompted his comment, which he expressly requested not be published in newspapers, it followed his scathing attack Friday on the European Union's decision a day earlier to lift its sanctions on Cuba.

Fidel branded the EU's decision "a great hypocrisy" because it is conditioned on human...