In 2007, numerous media outlets[6][7][8] reported that Terán, under a false name, had received a free cataract removal operation performed by Cuban doctors as part of Operación Milagro. One of Terán's sons asked El Deber, a local Santa Cruz newspaper, to publish a notice thanking the doctors on Terán's behalf. After the Cuban government learned what had transpired, Granma, the official newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party, published an editorial using the event to promote Che Guevara's legacy, writing that "Four decades after Mario Teran attempted to destroy a dream and an idea, Che returns to win yet another battle, and continues on in the struggle."[7] Terán's eye operation had become public knowledge only about a week before the 40th anniversary of Guevara's death.