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Castro gives signs of a comeback as he blasts Bush
By Isabel Sanchez
AFP
HAVANA
Petroleumworld.com 03 30 07
Cuban leader Fidel Castro signaled a possible comeback Thursday as he blasted US President George W. Bush for promoting biofuels in his first article since surgery eight months ago.
In an article in the official daily Granma, Castro said that "more than three billion people in the world" have been condemned to premature starvation due to Bush's policies.
"It is not an exaggerated figure. It is very cautious," Castro wrote. "I have meditated on this a lot since President Bush's meeting (Monday) with American automobile makers.""The sinister idea of converting food into fuel has been definitely established as the economic line of US foreign policy," he wrote.
Castro, 80, temporarily handed over power in July to his brother Raul while recovering from a gastrointestinal operation.
The iconic Cuban leader, who has led the country since 1959, has been seen on official Cuban television and newspaper photographs while recovering.
The article was distributed to reporters before it appeared on the front page of Granma, the Communist Party's official newspaper.
Reducing energy consumption and recycling "is a fundamental and urgent necessity for all humanity," Castro wrote.
"The tragedy is not reducing these wastes of energy, it is the idea of converting food into fuel."
Bush has promoted the use of ethanol, which is made from corn or sugarcane, as an alternative fuel as part of his effort to wean the United States off its dependence on foreign oil.
Earlier in the month Bush signed an agreement with Brazil to cooperate in promoting ethanol. The United States and Brazil account for 70 percent of the fuel's production.
Bush has proposed setting mandatory fuel requirements that would quintuple the current consumption of renewable and alternative fuels to 35 billion gallons (133 billion liters) by 2017.
Castro warned that 320 million tonnes of corn would be needed to produce that ethanol, leaving millions of people without food.
Castro's health has been the subject of feverish speculation over the past months, with US officials at one stage suggesting their longtime nemesis had just days left to live.
Much to the chagrin of hardline Cuban exiles in Miami, who had prematurely danced on his grave, video footage of Castro broadcast on January 30 showed him healthier and more alert than in the previous pictures released by Cuban authorities.
Some believe Castro could return to power, more likely as a leader who sets directions for the country than a day-to-day manager."His decisions will carry decisive weight in the country's affairs independent of whether he appears more or appears less," a member of the illegal but tolerated opposition, Oscar Espinosa Chepe, told AFP.
Marta Beatriz Roque, another opponent, was blunt about her displeasure with the article. "I would like them to worry more about the Cuban people than for the world. Worst things are happening here," she said.
Officials, families and friends have given upbeat updates about his health in recent weeks.
Fidel's older brother, Ramon, 82, said Wednesday that the Cuban leader was "very well" and "in one piece."
A top Cuban official indicated last week that Castro could soon resume a more active role.
"What we are expecting is that we will have him back (at work) with us, in a more active way, soon," Communist Party Politburo member and Basic Industry Minister
Yadira Garcia told reporters on March 20.
Although no comeback date has been announced, Bolivian President Evo Morales said that Castro would appear on April 28 at a Havana meeting of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), a group supported by Cuba.
AFP 29 1825 GMT 03 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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