Argentines Cheer Castro

[John M Cox <coxj@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thousands of Argentines crowd Buenos Aires boulevard to
hear Cuba's Fidel Castro speak

KEVIN GRAY, Associated Press Writer

May 26, 2003

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi- bin/article.cgi?f=
/news/archive/2003/05/26/international0006EDT0402.DTL

(05-26) 21:06 PDT BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) --

To the cheers of thousands of screaming Argentines,
Cuban leader Fidel Castro criticized U.S. foreign
policy in the Middle East and Latin America in a speech
Monday.

Castro, who attended Sunday's inauguration of President
Nestor Kirchner, was on his first trip to this
economically troubled South American country since
1995.

Dressed in a dark blue suit and tie, Castro drew shouts
of "Ole! Ole! Ole!" and "Fidel! Fidel!" as he spoke for
more than two and a half hours outdoors on a crisp
winter night.

Castro began by paying homage to Argentina-born
revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who served as one
of his top advisers during the 1959 revolution.

"He was a wonderful human being, extremely intelligent
and cultured, and who had an enormous sense of
solidarity," he said.

Castro then compared his country's achievements in
health care and education to levels attained by the
United States in the same field. But his criticism of
the U.S-led war in Iraq drew the loudest applause.

"We send our doctors, not bombs, to the farthest
corners of the world to help save lives, not kill
them," he said to a roar of cheers.

"The people of Buenos Aires are sending a message to
those in the world who want to ride roughshod over our
cities and our countries in Latin America," he added in
a thinly veiled reference to the United States.

The speech was organized by a student group and
originally planned to be held in an auditorium at the
University of Buenos Aires Law School, but was moved
outdoors after thousands swarmed the building to hear
Castro speak.

Castro arrived in Buenos Aires on Saturday with more
than a dozen Latin American leaders attending the
inaugural ceremonies for Kirchner, a center- left
former governor who took office as Argentina's sixth
president in 18 months. Kirchner has promised a more
protectionist stance to help lift the country out of
five years of grinding recession.

Earlier Monday, the Cuban leader met with Kirchner for
almost an hour. Argentine Foreign Minister Rafael
Bielsa later said Castro had asked the new president to
strengthen the countries' ties by appointing a new
ambassador to Cuba.

Former President Fernando De la Rua withdrew the
Argentine ambassador in Havana in 2001 after Castro
harshly criticized his government's decision to condemn
Cuba in an annual vote at the U.N. Human Rights
Commission.

This year, Argentina reversed its decision by choosing
to abstain in the April vote.

©2003 Associated Press

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