Posted on 01/30/2004 1:29:41 PM PST by HAL9000
HAVANA - Cuban President Fidel Castro accused President Bush on Friday of plotting with Miami exiles to kill him as part of his administration's hardening policies against the communist island.
The Cuban leader didn't back up his accusations with details. His comments came at the end of a 5 1/2-hour speech that began Thursday night and continued into early Friday at the close of a conference bringing together activists across the region who oppose the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
"We know that Mr. Bush has committed himself to the mafia ... to assassinate me," the Cuban president said, using the term commonly employed here to describe anti-Castro Cuban Americans.
Castro has accused past U.S. administrations of seeking to assassinate him, and during his early years in power there were numerous documented cases of U.S.-sponsored attempts on his life.
The assassination of foreign leaders as U.S. policy was later banned in 1976 by an executive order signed by then-President Gerald Ford and reinforced by Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.
Castro also criticized the Bush administration's Commission for a Free Cuba - a panel set up in October and headed by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
When the United States announced creation of the commission, Powell suggested that the goal is not to ease Castro out but to plan a strategy for Cuba once the 77-year-old leader is no longer in power.
"I can die a natural death or I can die a planned death," Castro said. "It really doesn't matter to me how I die, but I will surely die fighting."
Earlier in his speech, Castro called on the more than 1,000 activists from across the Americas gathered here to work against the U.S.-backed free trade pact, which he said will only further impoverish their nations.
The Bush administration has progressively hardened its policies toward the island. Cuban authorities charge the strategy is aimed at wooing voters in Florida, home to most of the Cuban-American exiles living in the United States.
For more than four decades, the two countries have been without diplomatic ties and a U.S. trade embargo against the island makes most trade between the nations impossible, except for sales of farm products.
Bush does not mince words and he ain't afraid to pull the trigger.
That Castro is still alive is proof that there is no such plot.
I wish that Castro was dead, but if a frog had pockets it would carry a sidearm.
Castro Says Bush Plotting to Kill HimJan, 2004
Hmmmm! A change of opinion, Comrade?
Castro closes his eyes and remembers the good old days when an American president was foolish and weak.
How many members of the Danny Glover / Sean Penn wing of the Hollywood left will make complete jackasses of themselves in the coming days over this?
Declaration of US delegates at Meeting Against FTAA in Cuba
We who are delegates from lands stolen from indigenous peoples, now called “the United States”, wish to express our deep appreciation to Cuba and to the Cuban people for their hospitality, generosity, and forbearance towards us.
We are grateful for all we have experienced, and for all we have gained from being here.
We have learned much from our fellow delegates, we realize we have much yet to learn from your levels of comprehension, organization, an articulation of issues gravely concerning us all. We applaud, and hope to emulate your inspiring faith in, and determination to realize, a world where enemies cease to exist, a world where all who live, find themselves at home.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.