Castro Says Bush Plotting to Kill Him

Friday, January 30, 2004

(9:53 PM ET)

By Andrea Rodriguez

Associated Press Writer

Castro also criticized the Bush administration's Commission for a Free Cuba - a panel set up in October and headed by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. When the United States announced creation of the commission, Powell suggested that the goal is not to ease Castro out but to plan a strategy for Cuba once the 77-year-old leader is no longer in power.

Cuban President Fidel Castro points to his watch after his 5-hour-speech at the ending meeting of the anti Free Trade of the Americas (FTAA) summit in Havana, Cuba, Jan. 29, 2004.

Image Credit: Jose Goitia -- AP

HAVANA, Cuba -- AP
Fidel Castro accused President Bush on Friday of plotting with Miami exiles to kill him, and said he would die fighting if the United States ever invaded to oust him.

“I don't care how I die,” Castro said at the end of a 5 1/2-hour speech that began Thursday night and continued into early Friday. “But rest assured, if they invade us, I'll die in combat.”

The Cuban president didn't back up his accusations with details. He spoke at the close of a conference bringing together activists across the region who oppose the Free Trade Area of the Americas.

Castro has insisted over the past year that hardline Cuban exiles in Miami have been pressuring the Bush administration to invade the island -- a charge U.S. officials deny.

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2003 © The Associated Press.

Dan