Castro rejects Bush democracy ideas
Associated Press
HOLGUIN, Cuba - In a blistering speech before hundreds of thousands
of people in a drenching rain Saturday, President Fidel Castro said the
democracy
President Bush wants to see in Cuba would be a corrupt and unfair
system that ignores the poor.
"For Mr. W, democracy only exists where money solves everything
and where those who can afford a $25,000-a-plate dinner - an insult to
the billions of
people living in the poor, hungry and underdeveloped world -
are the ones called to solve the problems of society and the world," Castro
said in his
continuing attack on Bush's hard line policies toward the island.
"Don't be a fool, Mr. W," Castro said. "Show some respect for
the minds of people who are capable of thinking...Show some respect for
others and for
yourself."
Castro's early morning address is part of Cuba's answer to Bush's
May 20 speeches in Washington and Miami, promising trade sanctions against
Cuba
would not be lifted until all political prisoners are freed,
independently monitored elections are allowed and a series of other conditions
are accepted for a
"new government that is fully democratic."
A week ago, Castro made a similar speech answering Bush's declarations,
telling the American people that they should never fear an attack by Cuba
and
can always count on this communist country's support in the
war against terrorism.
Saturday's speech in this eastern provincial capital 500 miles east of Havana was aimed directly at Bush.
"None of our leaders is a millionaire like the President of the
United States, whose monthly wage is almost twice that of all the members
of the (Cuban)
Council of State and the Council of Ministers in a year," Castro
told several hundred thousand people from across rural Holguin province
and neighboring
Las Tunas and Granma provinces.
"None can be included in the long list of Mr. W's neoliberal
friends in Latin America who are Olympic champions of misappropriation
and theft since the few
who do not steal from the public coffers and state taxes steal
from the poor and the hungry," he said.
"The criminal blockade he has promised to tighten will only multiply
the honor and glory of our people," Castro declared of Bush's stated intention
to not
only maintain but tighten U.S. restrictions on trade and travel
with Cuba.
Castro contrasted Bush with the late American President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
"It was a long time ago when a man spoke from his wheelchair
with a soft voice and a persuasive accent. He spoke as a president of the
United States of
America and he inspired respect ... He did not speak like a
showoff or a thug," Castro said.