By Ray Sanchez | Havana Bureau
8:27 AM EST, January 23, 2009
Havana - Cuban leader Fidel Castro acknowledged his deteriorating health
Thursday, saying he didn't expect to be able to reflect on world events
by the end of President Barack Obama's term.
On Friday, the first photo of Castro in more than two months was posted
on Argentina's presidential website. He was standing in a dark track
suit, appearing heavier than he did in his last image released two
months ago. The last published photo of the former president appeared
Nov. 18 after a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao.
His second essay in as many days and a meeting Wednesday with Argentine
President Cristina Fernandez have helped dispel rumors that the ailing
82-year-old was at death's door. But in his latest online essay on a
government Web site, Castro said he doubted his ability to continue much
longer.
"I have had the rare privilege of observing events over such a long
time," he wrote. "I receive information and meditate calmly on those
events. I expect I won't enjoy that privilege in four years, when
Obama's first presidential term has ended."
Castro, who has not been seen publicly since July 2006, did not
elaborate in a short essay in which he praised Obama and his decision to
close the prison at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in eastern Cuba.
"The intelligent and noble face of the first black president of the
United States ... had transformed itself under the inspiration of
Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King into a living symbol of the
American dream," Castro said.
Before his latest "Reflections" essays, Castro hadn't been heard from in
more than a month, fueling speculation that he was gravely ill or even
dead. He hasn't been seen in public since July 2006, when he underwent
emergency surgery. He turned over the presidency to his brother Raul in
February.
Castro said he decided to write less to avoid interfering with the
decisions of Cuban officials confronting the world economic crisis.
"I am well, but insist that none of them should feel compromised by my
occasional Reflections, my grave [health] or my death," he said.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-flbcastro0123sbjan23,0,4139411.story
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