FIDEL CASTRO WELCOMES PRESIDENT BUSH WITH THE PHRASE "I HOPE HE IS NOT AS STUPID AS HE LOOKS"

True to form, President Fidel Castro of Cuba launched his first verbal missile across the Straits of Florida yesterday with a venomous speech against his counterpart in the USA. "Someone very strange, who promises very little, took over the great empire that we have as a neighbour. This gentleman arrived and we hope he isn't as stupid as he looks, nor a mafia man, like his predecessors." Since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, he has seen ten presidents come and go, from Eisenhower to Bush Junior, passing by Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Senior and Clinton. President George Bush (Junior) has stated that his administration does not intend to change US official policy towards Cuba, and that the embargo will remain until the "political prisoners" are released and free elections are held. Maybe Fidel Castro could ask the Americans for a blueprint for an election process, since they are such experts at it. He could also ask for some advice from President Bush about how to get elected by the courts after getting less votes than his opponent and by excluding undesirable votes from being counted, our correspondent Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey reports from Lisbon.