[FOX] The oldest son of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro committed suicide at the age of 68, Cuban state media reported Thursday.Fidel "Fidelito" Castro Diaz-Balart is the oldest son of Castro and his first wife, Mirta Diaz Balart.
Diaz-Balart was said to have killed himself Thursday morning after receiving months of treatment for a "deeply depressed state," according to official website Cubadebate. He reportedly "required a hospitalization regime then outpatient follow-up" as part of his treatment.
Before his death, Diaz-Balart was a scientific adviser to the Council of State and was the vice president of the Cuban Academy of Sciences.
Among his own offspring, Castro only publicly recognized Fidelito, the angel-faced, blond boy from revolution-era photographs who caused double-takes because he resembled his father. As an adult he rose to the top post at Cuba's Atomic Energy Commission before his father removed him for unpublicized reasons in the early 1990s.
Diaz-Balart was born in 1949 and brought to the United States in the 1950’s after his mother divorced Castro. While in Mexico preparing for the guerrilla war, Castro persuaded Mirta to send Fidelito for a two-week visit, but then refused to send him back. While the boy was out for a walk with Castro's sister, three armed men jumped from a car and grabbed Diaz-Balart so he could be reunited with his mother.