Castro visits conservative, upsets Brazilian left

             SALVADOR, Brazil -- (EFE) -- Fidel Castro's stopover in Salvador, where he
             met behind closed doors with a conservative leader who is an ally of President
             Fernando Henrique Cardoso, has offended Brazil's left, which expected to hear
             some words of support for the upcoming elections from the Cuban leader.

             Castro stopped in Salvador en route to South Africa, where he will attend the
             Nonaligned Movement Summit of Heads of State and Government in Durban.

             The Cuban president spent an important part of his daylong visit lunching with Sen.
             Antonio Carlos Magalhaes, leader of the Liberal Front Party and a supporter of
             Cardoso's campaign for reelection on Oct. 4.

             Castro said his four-hour meeting with Magalhaes was merely an informal, friendly
             gesture toward a ``man who worked hard to strengthen relations between Cuba
             and Brazil'' while he was minister of communications under Jose Sarney
             (1985-1990).

             Castro said the talk was completely apolitical and that his intentions were to make
             an informal assessment of the critical situation of emerging countries affected by the
             Russian financial crisis.

             ``Please, don't blame me for the results of the electoral campaign,'' Castro told
             EFE after his luncheon with Magalhaes.

             Before the meeting, Magalhaes said that the talk would involve politics and scoffed
             at the Workers Party (PT) and the Brazilian Communist Party, which criticized
             Castro for not making some sort of contact with them during his third trip to
             Salvador.

             ``Fidel Castro has left a bad impression on the Brazilian left by solely meeting with
             the leaders of one party,'' said Lidice Damatta, former mayor of Salvador and a
             member of the Workers Party.

             In comments to the press before having lunch with Magalhaes, Castro said he
             favored Brazil's bid to win a seat on the United Nations' Security Council. That
             body, the Cuban leader added, needs to be overhauled to end ``the dictatorship
             that prevails,'' which essentially keeps the organization ``at the exclusive service of
             the super powers.''