Rumors of the death of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who has not been spotted in months, went into overdrive on Friday night due in part to an unrelated death thousands of miles away.
As the #RIPFidel hashtag began to spread online, it became clear that rumors of Castro's death were being fueled by the high-profile death of a different man with the same name, half a world away.
Fidel Castro Odinga, the son of prominent Kenyan politician and former prime minister Raila Odinga, reportedly died on Jan. 4. His Cuban namesake, however, still appears to be very much alive.
It is with profound sorrow that my wife Ida and I announce the untimely passing of our eldest son, Fidel Castro Odinga.— Raila Odinga (@RailaOdinga) January 4, 2015
Thousands of mourners took to social media with the hashtag #RIPFidel, as they paid their final respects to the Kenyan Fidel ahead of his funeral Saturday, likely fueling rumors about Cuban Fidel's death.
Mourners flock at Jaramogi Odinga Oginga University to give Fidel a send off #RIPFIDEL #FarewellFidelCastro pic.twitter.com/gZYa4joWjH— EBRU AFRICA NEWS (@ebruafricanews) January 10, 2015
Today, we as the Odinga family held a requiem mass for our late son Fidel Castro at the All Saints Cathedral. pic.twitter.com/pCawAqVWwR— Raila Odinga (@RailaOdinga) January 8, 2015
Fidel Castro Odinga is a high-profile person in Kenya because of his father's political status, so many used social media in the wake of his death to express their condolences, including current Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
My condolences go out to the former PM @RailaOdinga and his family. This is a big loss not only to you & your family but the entire country— Uhuru Kenyatta (@UKenyatta) January 4, 2015
Reports of Fidel Castro's death have been a staple of the international rumor mill for years, with speculation on the former Cuban leader's status bubbling up every few months.
There is no indication that the 88-year-old Castro is on his deathbed. However, he last appeared in public on Jan. 8, 2014 at an art exhibition in Havana, ending nine months out of public view.
The most recent official photographs of Castro came out of a private meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Aug. 21, 2014. He was also photographed with the Chinese and Russian presidents in July. Castro was last heard from on Oct. 18, when he published an editorial about Ebola.
In 2006, a serious illness forced him to step down from duties as president, and hand over leadership to his younger brother Raul Castro.
Some of the speculation was prompted by Castro's failure to comment after the U.S. and Cuba declared on Dec. 17 that they would move to restore full diplomatic relations broken a half century ago.
On Friday, Cuba-related Twitter accounts were ablaze with speculation, fueled in large part by reports on news websites, such as Diario de Cuba and Diario las America, that Cuba had scheduled a news conference, possibly to discuss Castro's health.
One CNN journalist added fuel to the fire, tweeting that a speech from Raul was imminent, although he later retracted the information, citing "bad info from Reuters."
Intervención de Raúl Castro. Estamos verificando información— Patricia Janiot (@patriciajaniot) January 9, 2015
Raul Castro expected to address Cuba soon amid speculation about the health of #FidelCastro.— Mark Bixler (@CNNmarkbixler) January 9, 2015
UPDATE - not expecting a Castro announcement - bad info from Reuters.— Mark Bixler (@CNNmarkbixler) January 10, 2015
Cuban officials told news media in Havana that no press conference had been called, and there were no obvious signs of official preparations for mourning.
Additional reporting by The Associated Press