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Castro: Obama Plan Is 'Formula For Hunger'

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The Associated Press

Published: May 27, 2008

HAVANA - Former President Fidel Castro says Sen. Barack Obama's plan to maintain Washington's trade embargo against Cuba will cause hunger and suffering on the island.

In a column published Monday by government-run newspapers, Castro said Obama was "the most-advanced candidate in the presidential race," but noted that he has not dared to call for altering U.S. policy toward Cuba.

"Obama's speech can be translated as a formula for hunger for the country," Castro wrote, referring to Obama's remarks last week to the influential Cuban American National Foundation in Miami.

Obama said he would maintain the nearly 50-year-old trade sanctions against Cuba as leverage to push for democratic change on the island.

He also vowed, however, to ease restrictions on Cuban Americans traveling to Cuba and sending money to relatives.

Castro said Obama's proposals for letting well-off Cuban Americans help poorer relatives on the island amounted to "propaganda for consumerism and a way of life that is unsustainable."

He complained that Obama's description of Cuba as "undemocratic" and "lacking in respect for liberty and human rights" was the same argument previous U.S. administrations "have used to justify their crimes against our homeland."

Obama's calls for direct talks with Cuban leaders differ sharply from a more hard-line policy favored by President Bush and Republican presidential candidate John McCain, whom Castro also has criticized.

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