Were the photos of Fidel part of a decoy campaign?

Well, that's the insinuation from this article on the BBC website, which states:
"Photographs emerged at the weekend showing the 83-year-old former president smiling and greeting workers. The images were published as the Cuban government began steps to release the first dissidents". While another BBC news item claims that "On Saturday, state media released photos of Mr Castro greeting well-wishers at a scientific centre in Havana. He was smiling and looked slightly stooped but relatively healthy during the appearance, said to have taken place last Wednesday".

In other words, it was the Cuban government who released the photos in an effort to deflect the 'embarassing' news of the arrival of 52 Cuban 'dissidents' and their families in Spain. Also, by saying that the photos 'are said to have taken place last Wednesday' also throws doubt on the circumstances surrounding the authenticity of the photos.

Last Friday I received photos taken from a friend of a friend in Cuba. By the next day, by the viral nature of e-mails and blogs, the photos had become worldwide news. I'm sure my contact had no idea that her innocent photos would spread like this. In any case, the allegation that the timing of these photos is somehow linked to the release of the 'dissidents' to Spain is completely groundless. Such elaborate attention-deflecting PR campaigns are obviously something that a political system based on spin would use, so no wonder the Western media would recognise this as such. Furthermore, it's quite disgusting how something as innocent and mundane as a person in Cuba taking photos of their president at their workplace and then innocently sending them by e-mail to friends is now being construed as part of some sort of propaganda campaign.

A good friend of mine is currently in Cuba and has met up with the photographer of the photos (described as an 'unidentified worker' in the mainstream media), so I hope to give you some more background information very soon.