Posted on Thu, Aug. 30, 2007
HAVANA --
(AP) -- A new essay signed by ailing leader Fidel Castro accused U.S.
presidential candidates of ''submission'' to his exiled foes in Florida
and offered a favorable assessment of only one of the 10 presidents he
has known: Jimmy Carter.
Candidates for the U.S. presidential election in 2008 ''are totally
absorbed by the Florida adventure,'' Castro said in the column published
Tuesday by the Communist Party newspaper Granma and other official media.
Castro said that both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama 'feel the sacred
duty to demand `a democratic government in Cuba' '' -- something Cuban
officials insist already exists.
Obama last weekend called for loosening restrictions on how often Cuban
Americans can visit family on the island and how much money they can
send them.
''It can help make their families less dependent on Fidel Castro. That's
the way to bring about real change in Cuba,'' Obama told more than 1,000
people in Little Havana.
Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, last week reiterated her support
for current U.S. policy: ``Until it is clear what type of policies might
come with a new [Cuban] government, we cannot talk about changes in the
U.S. policies toward Cuba.''
The column -- the second published so far this week -- made no reference
to recent rumors that Castro had died or was dying. Nor did it reveal
any information about his exact ailment or condition. Castro has not
been seen in public in the 13 months since he announced he had undergone
intestinal surgery and temporarily ceded power to his younger brother Raúl.
Castro also described his relations with other U.S. presidents he had
dealt with since 1959.
''I only knew one who for ethical-religious reasons was not complicit to
the brutal terrorism against Cuba: James Carter,'' Tuesday's essay read
-- though it noted that a law banning U.S. attempts to assassinate
foreign leaders such as Castro took effect during President Gerald
Ford's administration.
Castro noted that Carter opened the U.S. Interests Section in Havana and
supported an agreement on maritime limits.
Despite his efforts, Castro said, ``the circumstances of that time
impeded him from going further.''
Castro said former President Bill Clinton was ''really friendly'' during
a brief encounter at a U.N. summit and said he was ''intelligent in
demanding that rule of law be followed'' in the case of castaway boy
Elián González, who was returned from the United States to Cuba in 2000
after an international custody battle.
He also acknowledged that Clinton apparently tried to stop flights by
exile pilots who had enraged the communist government by repeatedly
scattering anti-communist literature over Havana.
But he criticized Clinton for backing legislation to tighten the U.S.
trade embargo after Cuban jet fighters shot down the civilian planes off
the island's coast during a repeat visit in February 1996.
''It was an electoral year, and he took advantage of that,'' Castro
said, noting that Clinton invited exile leaders to witness his signing
of ``the criminal law.''
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