Fidel Castro Dying?

Cuban leader Fidel Castro has been in poor health since summer 2006 and has not appeared in public. He relinquished power (temporarily?) to his younger brother Raul Castro, because of intestinal problems. He is suffering from Diverticulitis. A Spanish newspaper El Pais has reported that his condition is now "very grave". He has already undergone three operations related to his illness:

In the first operation to remove part of Castro's large intestine, Cuban surgeons decided to connect the colon to the rectum to avoid a colostomy or opening in the abdomen to get rid of stool, the newspaper said.

But the short-cut failed, releasing faeces into the abdomen that caused another peritonitis, the report said.

A second operation to clean and drain the infected area and perform a colostomy was also a failure, the paper said.

Castro underwent a third operation to implant a Korean-made prothesis, but it did not work and was replaced by one brought from Spain, according to El Pais.

Castro, who is now 80 years old, has ruled the Caribbean nation of Cuba since seizing power in a communist coup in 1959. Concerns about his health began shortly after he tripped and fell in public about a year ago as seen in the video below.

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=lFwKJfil1o4]