AP Deletes Fidel Castro Images Photoshopped To Remove Hearing Aid

AP Deletes Fidel Castro Images Photoshopped To Remove Hearing Aid

At 87, Fidel Castro is not as young as he used to be, so it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that he wears a hearing aid — but that didn’t stop AP contributors photoshopping the device out of images of the ex-Cuban President.

The Guardian reports that the Associated Press news agency has decided to remove images of Castro because they’d been digitally altered to remove evidence of him wearing a hearing aid. The images, above, showed Castro meeting Rafael Correa, the president of Ecuador, and Cristina Fernandez, the Argentinian president.

The AP explained that a “thin wire snaking into Fidel Castro’s ear” had been digitally removed from a number of images. While the photos were originally taken by Fidel’s son, Alex Castro, they were apparently altered by government-run Estudios Revolucion, which distributes photos of Cuba’s leadership. Castro Jnr. apparently “immediately provided the original unaltered image files when requested” though. Perhaps it’s worth us all remembering that it’s A-OK for 87-year-olds — or anyone! — to wear hearing aids. Even Fidel Castro. [Guardian]

Pictures: AP


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