AT the start of a visit by a long-time ally, Cuban President Fidel Castro greeted South African President Thabo Mbeki with an effusive bear hug on Monday. Dressed in his trademark military garb, Castro, 74, embraced Mbeki at Havana’s Jose Marti international airport, before the pair drove together into the city. Mbeki’s four-day visit is intended to build on economic, health and educational ties between the two states, as well as explore commercial possibilities, officials said. The visit will have wider political symbolism, highlighting South Africa’s opposition to the US economic embargo on Cuba and Castro’s long-time, concrete support for the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. – Reuters