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Vice Presient Lu discusses peace with Fidel Castro

Vice President Annette Lu shakes hands with Cuban President Fidel Castro at a national dinner banquet, held at Paraguay's presidential palace on Thursday. PHOTO: TZOU JIING-WEN, TAIPEI TIMES

Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) attended a dinner banquet held by Paraguay's President Luis Angel Gonzalez Macchi at the presidential palace on Thursday. She also met Cuba's President Fidel Castro there for the first time, and invited him to visit Taiwan someday.

World leaders and some 100 foreign delegations are scheduled to attend Friday's inauguration ceremony of Paraguay's President-elect Nicanor Duarte.

On the eve of the inauguration ceremony, the vice president received a warm welcome at the banquet.

Besides Castro presidents Nestor Kirchner of Argentina, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada of Bolivia, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Ricardo Lagos of Chile, Lucio Gutierrez of Ecuador, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, and Spanish King Juan Carlos were also in attendence.

Lu told the media that Castro was surprised to hear that she had been imprisoned for six years. She said that the Cuban leader repeatedly emphasized his anti-war stance during their conversation, and hoped that the conflicts between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait can be resolved peacefully.

Lu said she invited Castro to visit Taiwan during the banquet, hoping that he can "make a contribution to cross-strait peace."

Castro, now in power for almost 45 years, turned 77 earlier this week. As the longest-ruling head of government, the aging leader has built a communist state in the US' backyard.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell wished Castro a happy birthday on Wednesday, saying that he should have marked the occasion by retiring.

"It's time for him to go," Powell said in an interview with the Univision Spanish-language television network.
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