Free to do what?
A picky point but isn't this Fidel's 5th decade of reign?
No, he is still in the 4th decade, meaning he has ruled for 47 years.
I believe you are correct on it being decade number five. However, oppressed people everywhere need hope, so I suspect they ignore that part.
4 decades, 5 decades, whatever it takes...
The prophecy isn't exactly wrong though. While he's in his fifth decade, he hasn't completed his fifth decade. He HAS ruled for 40 years at least, which started in 1959. He has a few more years to make 50 complete years, in 2009, and THAT would make the prophecy wrong, since then it would mean he would have been ruling for a full five decades. Upon his death, which I hope will be soon, it will be said that he ruled for about 47 years, it will not reference any number 50 as his term of rule.