Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says his friend Fidel Castro is in a "great battle for life," but that he's optimistic about a quick recovery. Just what is Castro's condition? Have the media done enough to find out? What do we know about the man and his evolution into a dictator? Ann Louise Bardach, author of Cuba Confidential, has interviewed Fidel Castro twice and has just edited his letters from prison for Sunday's New York Times.
Read an excerpt from Cuba Confidential.