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Fidel Castro accuses Bush of plotting a new Cuba conquest

Cuban President Fidel Castro accused US President George W. Bush of plotting a new conquest of Cuba in an essay published a day before the White House was to announce new plans to draw Cuba away from communism.

In Tuesday's brief essay titled "Bush, Hunger and Death," Castro predicted that Bush "will adopt new measures to accelerate the `transition period' in our country, equivalent to a new conquest of Cuba by force."

The White House on Tuesday brushed off Castro's comments that Bush wanted to attack the island.

"Dictators say a lot of things, and most of them can be discounted, including that," White House press secretary Dana Perino.

She said Bush on Wednesday would urge other nations to join together in promoting democracy in Cuba.

"We're going to have an opportunity here, when Castro is no longer leading Cuba, that the people there should be able to have a chance at freedom and democracy," Perino said.

Cuban officials have long denounced US efforts to produce a "transition" from Castro's government to a Western-style representative democracy.

Ailing and 81, Castro has not been seen in public since undergoing emergency intestinal surgery and ceding power to a provisional government headed by his younger brother Raul in July last year. While he has looked upbeat and lucid in official videos, he also seems too frail to resume power.

Life on the island has changed little under Raul Castro, the 76-year-old defense minister who for decades has been his elder brother's hand-picked successor.

Cuba staged municipal elections on Sunday, the first step in a process that will determine if Fidel Castro is re-elected or replaced next year as Cuban leader.

Tuesday's essay by Fidel Castro, the latest of scores published by state media, accused Bush of threatening the world with nuclear war and famine.

"The danger of a massive world famine is aggravated by Mr Bush's recent initiative to transform foods into fuel," Castro wrote in Cuban news media, referring to US support for using corn and other food crops to produce gasoline substitutes.

He also alleged that Bush "threatens humanity with World War III, this time using atomic weapons."
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