Cuba found to be issuing doctored pictures of ailing former president Fidel Castro and photo-shopping his hearing aid

Cuba found to be issuing doctored pictures of ailing former president
Fidel Castro and photo-shopping his hearing aid
Seven images of Castro were handed out by the Cuban government
They were taken at a Latin America and Caribbean summit in Havana
But, after distributing them, the AP has discovered they were altered
The agency has now removed the pictures from its archives
By LEON WATSON
PUBLISHED: 09:06 GMT, 11 February 2014 | UPDATED: 18:42 GMT, 11 February
2014

Cuba's attempt to hide retired leader Fidel Castro's ailing condition by
doctoring a series of photos has been exposed.

Seven images of the 87-year-old were handed out by the Cuban government
were digitally altered to remove what appears to be a hearing aid from
Castro's ear.

The images in question were released through the government-run Estudios
Revolucion, an entity that distributes photos of Cuba's top leadership,
during a recent Latin America and Caribbean summit in Havana.
This is the picture that has caused the controversy, showing Cuban
leader Fidel Castro, right, with nothing in his ear, but the original,
left, with an earphone

They were retransmitted by the AP and other international news
organizations to clients around the world.

But today AP, which also transmits to MailOnline, said it was removing
the pictures from its archive after discovering they were faked.

AP vice president and director of photography Santiago Lyon said: 'We
have concluded that a number of official photographs of Fidel Castro
were manipulated.
l
'Removing elements from a photograph is entirely unacceptable and is in
clear violation of AP's standards.'

The AP informed Cuban officials of its decision regarding the photos,
but there was no public reaction or comment.

Under AP standards, photos must depict reality and cannot be manipulated
to add or subtract elements that alter that reality.

Source: Cuba found to be issuing doctored pictures of ailing former
president Fidel Castro and photoshopping his hearing aid | Mail Online -
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2556537/Cuba-issuing-doctored-pictures-ailing-former-president-Fidel-Castro-photoshopping-hearing-aid.html