FIDEL CASTRO has said he doubts he will live to see the end of Barack Obama's first term in office as US president.
The ailing Cuban leader, in a newspaper column titled "Reflections of Comrade Fidel", said Cuban officials "shouldn't feel bound by my occasional 'Reflections,' my state of health or my death".
He wrote: "I have had the rare privilege of observi
ng events over such a long time. I expect I won't enjoy that privilege in four years, when Obama's first presidential term has ended."
He did not elaborate, but the lines had the ring of a farewell, and Castro suggested he was on his way out.
"I have reduced the 'Reflections' as I had planned this year, so I won't interfere or get in the way of the (Communist] party or government comrades in the constant decisions they must make," he wrote.
The bulk of the column praised Mr Obama, the 11th US president since Castro took power, in part for his decision to close the US prison at Guantanamo Bay.
Castro wrote: "No-one could doubt the sincerity of his words when he affirms that he will convert his country into a model of freedom, respect for human rights and the independence of other nations."
However, Castro suggested Mr Obama would succumb to greater threats: "What will he do soon, when the immense power that he has taken in his hands is absolutely useless to overcome the insolvable, antagonistic contradictions of the (US] system?"
