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Bolivia's Morales visits Cuba for medical appointmentBy Reuters

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Bolivian ex-President Evo Morales is in Cuba for a medical check-up, a former official from his government said on Friday, after the ousted leader sought asylum in Mexico.

"President Evo Morales is in Cuba for a medical appointment with the Cuban medical team that treated him in Bolivia," Gabriela Montano, the former health minister under Morales' administration, told Reuters.

Mexico's Foreign Ministry said Morales departed for Cuba on Friday morning on what was expected to be a brief trip.

The veteran leftist leader stepped down in November in the face of widespread protests against him and allegations that a presidential election had been rigged in his favour.

(Reporting by Diego Ore and Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Leslie Adler)