JOHANNESBURG, Nov 5: South Africa’s iconic first black leader Nelson Mandela said on Wednesday that Barack Obama’s election as US president showed that anybody could dream to change the world.

“Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place,” Mandela wrote in a letter to Obama, America’s first black president-elect.

The 90-year-old Mandela applauded Obama’s commitment to support global peace and security and trusted that combatting poverty and disease would become the mission of his presidency.

“We wish you strength and fortitude in the challenging days and years that lie ahead,” said Mandela.

“We are sure you will ultimately achieve your dream (of) making the United States of America a full partner in a community of nations committed to peace and prosperity for all.” Mandela led South Africa’s first democratic government from 1994 to 1999 after being imprisoned by apartheid’s white minority rule for 27 years.—AFP