Current conjecture among medical experts is that Fidel Castro has widely metastatic colon cancer and either did not survive the surgery announced by Cuban officials, or — if he survived — will be dead within a matter of a few weeks.

The condition is terminal.

It was known before Castro’s sudden collapse last weekend that he had stomach cancer, but the speed of his decline caught his medical team by surprise. It is thought to have been contributed to by depression over his declining health and anxiety over whether or not the revolutionary movement he founded would long survive his passing.

There are several other possible medical conditions that fit the facts reported in official Cuban government statements on Castro’s condition, but all of them are terminal. If Castro is not dead already, or dying, then the official statements have been false and Castro’s illness and relinquishment of power were a ruse.

Published reports have indicated that Fidel Castro is hospitalized in an exclusive hospital in the Kohly area reserved for members of the Cuban Politburo and other high government officials. Cigar Envy has learned that those published reports are probably in error.

Where the Cuban leader was actually operated on, and the circumstances following his operation at the hospital in question, raise questions about his current condition and the statements issued this past week by Cuban authorities.

Full details after the jump.

Sources in Miami and Cuba are reporting that the dictator’s hopitalization and treatment was actually at the Center of Medical-Surgical Research (CIMEQ) on the outskirts of Havana. He reportedly underwent an emergency operation at CIMEQ last Saturday night (July 30, 2006) after physicians were unable to halt internal bleeding through other means.

Castro was taken to CIMEQ after being found unconscious or almost unconscious. Because of his advanced age and weakened condition, they were reluctant to operate on him and attempted to stop his internal hemorrhaging by non-surgical means. They were forced to resort to surgery when other methods failed and it became clear that he would die without drastic measures.

CIMEQ is in a secure military zone in the Siboney district outside Havana near Castro’s official residence. It is an exclusive hospital, and caters to top Cuban military officers, foreign friends of the Castro regime, and wealthy foreigners. An entire floor is set aside for Fidel Castro’s private use. To enhance the already tight security there, word was leaked that the Cuban dictator was being treated in the Kohly facility.

After the operation, Fidel Castro was moved to the fifth floor of CIMEQ. No one had been allowed into or out of the hospital since Sunday. Employees were prevented from leaving at shift changes, and staff due to report for duty were not allowed in. CIMEQ was sealed off from the outside world, and no word has come out on anything happening inside except through the highest-level channels since that time. This could be a further indication that the Cuban leader either did not survive the surgery or died shortly afterwards.

More news as it becomes available.