Rumours circulating online that former Cuban leader Fidel Castro has died have apparently been put to bed by Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona.
According to the television network Telesur, the former Cuban president sent Diego Maradona a letter this weekend to rubbish reports he had died.
Telesur, funded by Venezuela, Cuba and other governments, showed the 1986 World Cup-winner holding up a letter signed by Castro on Sunday night.
Maradona said Castro, now 88, had discussed global oil consumption and the release of three Cuban agents by the US last month in his four-page letter.
Maradona told television network Telesur, which is funded by allied countries including Cuba and Venezuela that he received a four-page letter signed by Fidel Castro on Sunday night.
He said the note discussed global oil consumption, the release of Cuba's three intelligence agents by the US last month, and a recent summit of the leftist ALBA bloc of Latin American countries.
“I am very happy to know he is well,” Maradona told reporters at the Havana airport as he prepared to leave Cuba.
“Here is the signature and I am showing it to you so you can show it to the world,” the football legend said.
The note will be the first contact of the Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has had with the outside world since a newspaper column which appeared in Cuba's state paper on October 17, 2014.
A serious illness forced Fidel Castro to step down from duties as president in 2006, handing over leadership to his younger brother Raul Castro.