Castro Praises Colin Powell

Castro Praises Colin Powell
By STEVEN GUTKIN, Associated Press Writer

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Colin Powell became the first senior U.S. official in four decades to offer even faint praise of Fidel Castro when he said the Cuban leader has ``done good things for his people.'' On Saturday, Castro had some praise of his own for Powell.

``I do not think that he is a warmonger,'' Castro said of the U.S. secretary of state during a three-day visit to Malaysia. ``He is the only one who has dared say that Cuba has done something good.''

The kind words aren't likely to fundamentally change U.S.-Cuba relations. When Powell made his comment to a congressional subcommittee last month, he quickly added that Castro remains ``trapped in a time warp'' and that the Bush administration will continue to shun Castro politically and diplomatically.

And Castro quickly added that Powell ``is part of the government'' and ``has to take the same line as the government.''

But the praise, however guarded, is a rarity in a relationship defined by its mutual animosity and a four-decade-old U.S. trade embargo of Cuba.

Castro made his comment to reporters Saturday while dozens of shoppers inside the world's tallest buildings - Malaysia's Petronas Towers - scrambled to greet him. A few lucky ones did.

The comment followed days of harsh criticism of the United States during visits to Algeria, Iran and Malaysia - three nations sympathetic to Castro's communist revolution.

On Friday, he told a group of Malaysian businessmen and academics that globalization was a threat to nations' sovereignty and praised Malaysia's ``spirit of rebellion.''

For the past week, Castro has been taking his case against the United States to friendly audiences in the Middle East and Asia.

Castro played tourist on the second day of his Malaysia tour Saturday, visiting the world's tallest buildings before retiring to private meetings with officials and businessmen.

``I was closer to heaven here,'' Castro told reporters after touring the Petronas Towers, one of several mega-projects undertaken by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Mahathir, like Castro, is an outspoken critic of Washington and what he calls an unfair international financial system. He's given the Cuban leader an extraordinarily warm welcome, with the two countries signing an accord Friday to bolster bilateral cooperation in trade, science and technology.

``We are the rebels of the West,'' Castro said. ``And Malaysia is the rebel of the East.''

Cuba has been trying to bolster relations with old and new allies in the Arab world and Asia as part of its drive to form political and financial partnerships with developing nations following the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba's one-time patron.

Castro, 74, and Mahathir, 75, both among the world's longest-ruling leaders, share a deep suspicion of the United States.

But Castro's communist Cuba is one of the region's poorest nations, while capitalist Malaysia is one of Southeast Asia's richest. And while the United States is Malaysia's largest trading partner, Cuba languishes under the U.S. trade embargo.

Castro's current tour follows a decade of travel limited mostly to the Western Hemisphere.

During his appearance before the House appropriations subcommittee hearing last month, Powell said that Castro has fomented revolutions and insurgencies for most of his 42 years in power, ``but he is no longer the threat he was.''