Full of It

In yet another story claiming to have insight into Fidel Castro's condition, it is claimed that he opted for a riskier procedure to deal with his intestinal illness rather than have a colostomy bag.

So what happened? Well, the riskier procedure failed, the follow up procedure failed, and Fidel was (as most of his critics are wont to say) full of poop.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro chose to avoid a colostomy and opted for riskier intestinal surgery that led to serious complications, the Spanish newspaper El Pais said in its Wednesday edition.

The shortcut involved sewing the colon to the rectum but did not heal properly and broke apart, releasing gastric fluid with feces that caused serious infection, El Pais said on its Web site.

The newspaper reported a day earlier that Castro's prognosis was "very serious" and that he is being fed intravenously after three failed operations for diverticulitis, or pouch-like bulges in the large intestine that get infected.

El Pais cited medical sources at the same Madrid hospital where a surgeon who examined Castro in late December works.

So much for the Cuban health care system operating as Fidel and his thugs claim - best in the world. That claim is also full of it. Val Prieto is on top of the situation and notes that CNN and other media outlets are essentially running with rumors here because no one has solid news on Castro's condition or anything else - all news is being run through Castro's censors in Havana and everyone else is trying to divine his health status from second hand sources.

UPDATE:
Others blogging the last days of Fidel Castro (the end can't come soon enough): Bullwinkle Blog, Instapundit, Catallarchy (who notes and enjoys the irony), Classical Values, Flap's Blog, and Winds of Change.