Castro: 'Bush is deranged'

2005-02-02 09:23

Havana - Fidel Castro said Tuesday that United States President George W Bush appears deranged, and that Cubans would much rather live in the Caribbean island's "heaven" than try and survive in Bush's corrupt, capitalist "hell."

In comments aired live on state-run television, Castro told thousands of teachers attending an international pedagogy conference in Havana that he closely watched Bush's inauguration speech January 20 and saw "the face of a deranged person."

"If only it were just the face," he said, to roars of applause by educators in the audience hailing from 52 countries around the world.

Castro, wearing his olive green military uniform, criticised Bush's government, linking it to corruption and torture. He then defended Cuba's socialist system, which Bush's administration has openly said should be replaced with a democratic, free-market one.

"This country is heaven, in the spiritual sense of the word," he said. "And I say (to Bush), we prefer to die in heaven than survive in hell."

Cuban can manage alone

Castro, 78, stood up for much of his five-hour speech. After he broke his right arm and shattered his left kneecap in an accidental fall in October, the Cuban leader was in a wheelchair before he started standing up and walking again in December.

He expressed little enthusiasm for renewed diplomatic ties between Cuba and the European Union, indicating displeasure that a decision to lift sanctions on Cuba was temporary.

European Union foreign ministers announced this week they would lift a ban on high-level governmental visits and stop inviting Cuban dissidents to embassy gatherings in Havana. The 25-nation bloc had imposed the sanctions after Castro's government cracked down on government opponents in March 2003.

The EU's new policy, which demands the release of all imprisoned dissidents, is up for review in July.

"They are treating us ... as if we were condemned to a death sentence," using these months to "observe how I behave," Castro said.

Cuba "doesn't need the United States, it doesn't need Europe," he added. "What a wonderful thing to be able to say, that (Cuba) doesn't need any assistance - it's learned to live without it."

Conversely, Castro flowered praise on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, defending the character and ambitions of his close friend and ally. Castro said he laughs every day when he hears "the idiocies" said about Chavez.

The Cuban leader also underlined Cuba's successes in education, where the government has focused many of its resources since the 1959 revolution thrust Castro into power.

"Cuba is doing more for education than Unesco," he said, referring to the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

- AP