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Castro's fixation with Obama's chief of staff

Cigars, fine rum and communist revolution are not the only things that make Fidel Castro tick. In an eccentric newspaper article, the Cuban leader has admitted to a curious fascination with Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.

Mr Castro, who has not been seen in public since he handed the presidency to his brother, Raul, in 2006, propped himself up on his sick-bed this week to write a lengthy editorial about the origins of the US politico's surname.

"What a strange surname!" he writes. "It appears Spanish, easy to pronounce, but it's not. Never in my life have I heard or read about any student or compatriot with that name, among tens of thousands." Published in Granma, the official mouthpiece of Cuba's communist party, the article suggests, somewhat bizarrely, that President Obama's sharp-elbowed "fixer" owes his name to the German philosopher Immanuel Kant.
Read entire article at Independent (UK)