File photo taken on Sept. 19, 2012 shows the image of Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart. Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, the eldest son of late Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, took his own life Thursday morning after being treated for depression for months, an official release said. (Xinhua/GRANMA)
HAVANA, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, the eldest son of late Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, took his own life Thursday morning after being treated for depression for months, an official release said.
According to a statement on the government site Cubadebate, Castro Diaz-Balart, 68, suffered a "deep depressive state" for which he had been receiving medical attention during the last months.
A brief note read on state television said his treatment had "required an initial hospitalization then outpatient follow-up."
As a doctor of science, he was placed in charge of Cuba's nuclear power program for a time. Before his decease, he served as a scientific counsellor to the Council of State and was vice president of the Cuban Academy of Sciences.
His father, a prominent communist revolutionary and politician of Cuba, died in November 2016 at the age of 90 after severe illness forced him from power.
Castro Diaz-Balart was also called by the public "Fidelito," or Little Fidel, because he looked like his father very much.
Born on Sept. 1, 1949 in the capital of Havana, he was born to Fidel Castro's first wife Mirta Diaz-Balart before the Cuban Revolution which later brought Castro to power.
As one of the most recognized Cuban scientists, he devoted his entire life and career to the development of science in the Caribbean island nation, the statement said.
