Grapevine: Jan. 9, 1989

NO CIGAR. Fidel Castro gave up his trademark Havanas in 1985, but only now has the reason been disclosed: according to Soviet officials, doctors discovered a small malignancy in a lung. Castro, 62, is under regular treatment that has slowed but not checked the course of the cancer. His public appearances have become less frequent, and he seems to have lost weight. Soviet leader Mikhail ! Gorbachev, who canceled a trip to Cuba last month after Armenia's earthquake, wants to reschedule as soon as possible, perhaps as early as this month. High on Gorbachev's Havana agenda: a discussion of possible successors...

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