- Fidel Castro has said he will die "with a gun in
my hand", in a defiant speech to anti-globalisation activists.
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- In a five-hour speech in the Cuban capital, Havana, the
communist leader said his country was ready to repel an invasion from the
United States.
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- "These idiots had better not believe we're wasting
our time... This country will never give up. It will never lay down its
weapons," he said.
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- He accused the Bush administration of plotting with Miami
exiles to kill him.
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- President Castro was addressing a gathering of about
1,000 international activists against free trade - and in particular the
US-backed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
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- "El Comandante", as Mr Castro is best known
to his compatriots, said he did not want a war against "Yanquee imperialism".
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- But he alleged that US President George Bush had committed
himself to trying to kill him and overthrow his government.
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- 'Dead man' fighting
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- "We knew that Mr Bush had made a commitment with
the mafia [Cuban exiles] of the Cuban-American Foundation to kill me. I
accuse him of this," he said.
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- "This dead man can still talk. This dead man can
make plans. This dead man ... is not dead yet.
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- "With a gun in my hand, I don't care how I die,
but I'm confident that if they invade us, I will go down fighting,"
Mr Castro said to tumultuous applause from the audience, which included
Andean Indians, landless Brazilians, and Canadian postal workers.
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- Mr Castro is known to have survived several CIA plots
to assassinate him during the 1960s.
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- But many Cubans now fear that Washington, frustrated
by the failure of a 40-year embargo to bring down Mr Castro, may be planning
an imminent land invasion.
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- Some 130,000 "committees for the defence of the
revolution" and other local organisations have been told to step up
their vigilance.
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- President Bush has set up a special committee to monitor
events in Cuba and "plan for the happy day when Castro's regime is
no more".
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- Earlier this year, Bush administration officials also
accused Cuba of trying to destabilise other Latin American states.
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- © BBC MMIV
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- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3446069.stm
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