By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

          HAVANA (AP) -- Fidel Castro this week fired his first verbal shot at
          President Bush since he took office, saying he hoped his new adversary
          in the White House is ``not as stupid as he seems.''

          In a Sunday speech shown late Wednesday on state television, Castro
          said that "someone very strange, with very little promise, has taken
          charge of the leadership of the great empire that we have as a neighbor.''

          "That gentleman has arrived there, and hopefully he is not as stupid as he
          seems, nor as mafia-like as his predecessors were,'' the Cuban leader
          said. He added, however, that he was not troubled by Bush's presence,
          saying ``he's there, and we are calm over here.''

          The United States "cannot invent anything against us,'' said Castro.

          In Washington, White House spokeswoman Mary Ellen Countryman
          declined to comment on most of the Cuban leader's remarks. As for
          Castro's statement that the island nation was "calm'' about the Bush
          presidency, she said lightheartedly: "That's good. We are calm over here
          too.''

          Bush is the 10th American president to serve since the 1959 triumph of
          Castro's revolution.

          The new U.S. president has expressed support for the four-decade
          American trade embargo on Cuba. He has said he envisions no change in
          U.S. policy toward the communist island unless free elections are held
          and political prisoners are freed.

          During last year's presidential campaign, Castro described Bush, a
          Republican, and Democratic candidate Al Gore as "boring and insipid.''