Cuba's ailing champion of communism Fidel Castro can't make up his mind about President Obama. He's hot or he's cold on the leader of the free world and today's he's sub-zero, calling Obama "stupid" for demanding reforms in Cuba. The former Cuban president's sassy remarks come in response to Obama's address to Hispanic journalists Wednesday, when he said he would soften his hard-line on Cuba "when we start seeing a serious intention on the part of the Cuban government to provide liberty for its people," reports Reuters.

"How nice!" Castro responded in an essay published in Cuban state media. "How intelligent! So much generosity has failed to let him understand that after 50 years of blockade and crimes against our country, they haven't been able to bow our people." He expressed disappointment in a recent U.S. judge ruling against a Cuban agent but noted that the decision was inevitable. "Otherwise, the empire would cease to be the empire and Obama would cease to be stupid."

Stupid, eh? Castro's dwindling enthusiasm for Obama coincides with the American public's. But Castro hasn't always been such a hater. As recently as last year he called Obama "unquestionably intelligent" following the passage of the Democrat's health care bill. And in 2009 he was reportedly "astonished" by reports of Obama's declining popularity, which he attributed to "traditional [U.S.] racism." Elaborating, he said millions of white Americans "cannot reconcile themselves to the idea that a black person ... could occupy the White House, which is called just that: white."

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John Hudson