Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro endorsed the Democrat Obama as 'more intelligent' than his 'bellicose' Republican adversary John McCain as Americans voted on Tuesday on who will lead their country beginning next January.
The comments, penned by Mr Castro in the official Cuban press, were part of a big Latin American stamp of approval for Mr Obama, who is the favourite to take over from Mr Bush.
According to a Latinobarometro poll published by The Economist magazine, nearly four times as many Latin Americans would vote for Mr Obama over Mr McCain - though without much enthusiasm.
The thumbs-up from Mr Fidel Castro - who still wields influence in Cuba despite ceding power to his brother Raul in July 2006 - was notable in that it came from an avowed foe of the United States.
Mr Obama, wrote Mr Castro, 'is without a doubt more intelligent, cultured and composed than his Republican adversary'.
Mr McCain, he added, 'is old, bellicose, uneducated, not very intelligent and in poor health.' If Mr McCain won, 'the risk of war will grow', he wrote, quoting from a letter he sent to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Mr Castro's acolyte - and another antagonist to the United States - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, also backed Mr Obama.
If Mr Obama gets elected, there would be 'a small light on the horizon' regarding US-Venezuela relations.
'I hope Obama himself powers that light on,' he said, predicting that he would 'win by a landslide'. Mr Chavez said he would be willing to meet with Mr Obama 'with respect' and as 'equals'.
If Mr McCain won, though, ties with the United States would be a 'struggle', he said.
Mr Chavez in September recalled Venezuela's ambassador to Washington and vowed not to send a new envoy until Bush's term in office is up and he leaves the White House on January 20.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla who supported Russia in recognising two rebel Georgian provinces after a conflict in August, expressed sympathy for Mr Obama and said it would be a 'miracle' if he won.
'If it's Barack Obama - and a miracle is produced - or McCain, our position is that we're ready to work in a framework of respect with the United States', Mr Ortega said.
The Nicaraguan leader said it was 'transcendental' and almost 'revolutionary' that there was a black candidate in the US election, despite the 'racism that has existed and still exists in that country'.
Mr Obama represented immigrants of impoverished countries 'because his roots are in Africa,' Mr Ortega added.
In distinctly pro-US Latin American countries, the support for Mr Obama was even more resounding.
A survey ordered by El Dia newspaper in Costa Rica found seven out of 10 people there want Mr Obama to win, against less than one in 10 for Mr McCain, based on poll of 1,005 respondents.
'If the US presidency depended on Costa Ricans, Barack Obama would destroy his opponent John McCain today,' an editorial in El Dia said.
Paraguay's President Fernando Lugo, on a visit to Mexico, said he would not be surprised to see Mr Obama in the White House.
'His victory would in no way be news, because the polls have shown him to be the favourite since the beginning', said the leftwing former bishop. -- AFP