Health reform success for Obama, says Fidel Castro

HAVANA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The newly-adopted U.S. healthcare reform plan was "an important victory and success" for the Barack Obama administration, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said in an article published Thursday on the official website Cubadebate.

Castro said it was remarkable that the most powerful country on earth took more than two centuries from its founding to approve something as basic as health benefits for all.

"We believe that the health reform has been a major battle and a success of his (Obama) government," Castro said.

Castro also said that although Obama won a great victory with the approval of the new health plan, he must not forget the threat of climate change, a far more serious threat to all peoples on the planet.

Castro handed power to his brother Raul for health reasons in June 2006, and has devoted himself to writing editorials since then.