From Herald Wire Services

 MONTREAL -- Cuban President Fidel Castro says he's going to follow the lead of
 disillusioned American voters and head for the beach on Election Day in the
 United States.

 ``With my best politeness, I must say I don't like either of them,'' Castro told the
 Canadian Broadcasting Corp., when asked his thoughts on U.S. presidential rivals
 Al Gore and George W. Bush.

 ``I'm thinking of doing the same as the majority of Americans on Election Day;
 going to the beach and not voting. I am not going to vote on Election Day.

 ``I am absolutely neutral; no, not neutral, I'm against both of them. I'd like another
 candidate. But there are only these two and my position is this: I don't like either
 of them,'' Castro said.

 Castro spoke with CBC for two hours on his return to Havana after attending last
 week's memorial service in Montreal for former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre
 Trudeau, whom Castro called a friend and ``and one of the greatest statesmen'' he
 had known.

 ``We can never forget that during the harshest years of the blockade, all the
 countries in the hemisphere joined in the blockade except two: Those countries
 were Canada and Mexico,'' Castro said.

 Trudeau first visited Cuba at the height of the Cold War, in January 1976. He went
 back three times, in 1986, 1992 and 1995, before leaving politics for good.

 ``We nurtured a friendship from the first to last day we saw each other,'' he added.

 Castro also had high praise for former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, whom he met
 in Montreal at Trudeau's funeral.

 While saying he harbored no ill feeling toward the American people, Castro
 declared he was not prepared to give up any ground on Cuba's political system.

 ``They believe their system is the best, we believe ours is the best in every
 respect. Our people know better than anybody else where the truth lies,'' Castro
 said.

 He ruled out any chance of following the former Soviet Union's example and
 switching to capitalism, saying that it would risk destroying the country.

 ``A political change? To what? Capitalism? No, no, no. No way!'' Castro said.

 Castro was asked if he planned to take Cuba down a similar path the Soviet
 Union started under former President Mikhail Gorbachev.

 ``Do you want us to destroy Cuba? What was the outcome of Gorbachev's
 policies? They destroyed . . . disappointed the whole country. They confiscate
 state property; they take it over and put all the country's money -- $300 billion -- in
 European and U.S. banks,'' Castro said.