SOUTH African ex-president Nelson Mandela has pledged to visit the Americas’ only communist-ruled country by the end of the year, official media in Cuba reported on Monday. Mandela met with President Fidel Castro at the UN racism conference in Durban, South Africa, and “I promised him (Castro)” the visit, local media reported, quoting Mandela as saying: “I want to go to Cuba by the end of this year.” It is a great moment for us to be here with Fidel, because what Fidel has done for us (South Africans) is difficult to put into words,” official Cuban media quoted the South African former president as saying. Mandela, who was in power from 1994-1999, has paid one previous visit to Cuba, in July 1991. – AFP