Castro lashes out

Havana

Cuban President Fidel Castro this week accused President Bush of plotting to assassinate him. At the end of a five-hour speech, Castro said that hard-line Cuban exiles in Miami had been pressuring the Bush administration to invade the Caribbean island and oust Castro’s communist regime. “But rest assured,” he said, “if they invade us, I’ll die in combat.” Bush administration officials said they had no intention of ousting Castro by force, although the U.S. has hardened its policies toward Cuba, forming the Commission for a Free Cuba to prepare for the day when Castro, 77, is no longer around.