Sooner or later, it will be true. But on Friday, for the umpteenth time, Miami was distracted by the rumour that Castro, 88, who has survived revolution, assassination attempts, countless cigars, substantial stress, a fall after leaving a stage and a life-threatening stomach ailment, had finally succumbed.
"Hope springs eternal," said James Cason, the former head of the US interests section in Cuba from 2002 to 2005 and now the mayor of Coral Gables, a wealthy enclave in Miami-Dade county. "He must have died 20 times since the time I went to Cuba." Cuban-Americans gathered in the usual spot, the Versailles restaurant on Calle Ocho, and other Cuban establishments to ponder the possibility that this time, maybe, it would be true. But even here in a city still fixated by Castro, rumour fatigue was obvious. Versailles had put its Fidel-is-dead game plan into action — assigning some parking spots to local TV and radio stations, but few showed up.
It was no different at La Carreta, a restaurant in Westchester, a Cuban-American stronghold. "There is always doubt about this; the joke is on us," said Manolo Alvarez, 75, a retired painter, laughing as he held court with friends. "But eventually it will happen. No one is immortal. And he will join the devil."
Castro death alerts come fast and frequently these days. His age, ill health, long absence from public view and society's shift from old-school rumour mill to hyperspeed Twitter feed make even debunked stories effortlessly spreadable. In fact, determining the provenance of each rumor is a kind of modern-day parlor game.
In this case, the story probably stemmed from a simple mix-up, the death of a lesser-known namesake in a faraway country — Fidel Castro Odinga, the son of a prominent Kenyan politician, Raila Odinga — died on Sunday and was eulogized on Thursday.
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