Castro has cancer, critically ill: US

New Delhi According to US intelligence sources Cuban leader Fidel Alejandro Castro is in the terminal stages of cancer.

A website Times.com has reported about Castro's terminal illness. According to the website his condition appears to be critical and he is unlikely to return to power.

US Intelligence sources tell the website that Castro's condition appears to be terminal and he is unlikely to return to power.

Times.com’s Timothy Burger says, “US government has received a detailed report. Castro won’t be out for a couple of months. I have got hold of some intelligence reports, which say that he has terminal cancer. Castro will rest at his residence for few months.”

However, the Cuban government has said that Castro is recovering from an abdominal surgery.

Castro, has ruled Cuba with an iron grip for the past four decades, after usurping power in 1959.

He handed over power to his brother Raul on July 31 after undergoing emergency surgery for intestinal bleeding.

The US government has been preparing for Castro's departure for half a century. No matter whether Castro returns to office or not, diplomats and dissidents say the post-Fidel era has already begun and some foresee an ideological tug of war between 'tropical Taliban' and proponents of Chinese-style economic reforms.

The Castro brothers hold world records for years in power: Fidel is the world's longest-serving head of government, Raul the longest-serving defense minister -- both 47 years.

Castro once said: "I began revolution with 82 men. If I had do it again, I'd do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and plan of action."

Castro's first attempt to overthrow General Fulgencio Batista, the dictator of Cuba on July 26 1953, was a failure and he was exiled to Mexico.

But he didn’t give up. Along with revolutionary icon Ernesto "Che" Guevara and brother Raul, Castro lead a successful revolution. On January 6, 1959 he took over the country's rule.

More than 70 per cent of Cuba's 11 million population were born after Fidel Castro seized power and tend to be reluctant to talk about a future without him. But a number of dissidents speak out frankly and on the record.

With ibnlive.com inputs