Is Fidel Castro in His Final Days of Life?

Who knows and who cares? But yet, as I read today's newspaper, there are alleged reports that Cuba watchers from Miami to Washington were on high alert due to rumors circulating that his health has taken a turn for the worse.

I remember reporting on a similar story in 2007 in which I was reacting to rumors that Fidel Castro had died and I coined a phrase called Castro-syndrome, which describes the anxiety Americans all over the U.S. were feeling over the pending demise of Fidel Castro.

But Castro, in fact, was not dead. In 2008, he retired, and yet nothing really changed on the island of Cuba. The Cuban people still live under tyranny, lacking human rights, and with no hope for a better future. For 50 years, Fidel Castro has blamed the United States instead of blaming himself for the brutal way he has governed.

To me Fidel Castro is a footnote of history. And I know that if his pending demise comes to fruition, he will be the top story in every newspaper around the world.

So I am not going to speculate, but I am going to hope that somehow 2009 will bring hope, prosperity and happiness to the Cuban people. And that future generations of free Cubans will remember that one dictator could try, but never overcome what is inside all of us_ goodness and great hope for a better world.

Yes, he will die someday, but in the meantime, we all have to live for today - because tomorrow may never come.