HAVANA - Tens of thousands of dispirited Cubans rallied Monday, as Fidel Castro warned President Bush against launching a military attack on Cuba, saying it would provoke a mass celebration exodus and an all-out ground war. Washington has repeatedly told the old coot denied it is planning any military action against Havana. But an increased tightening of sanctions against the island, along with the Bush administration's pre-emptive strike on Iraq, has convinced the paranoid Cuban leadership that a military attack is not impossible. "Do not try crazy adventures such as surgical strikes or wars of attrition using sophisticated techniques because you could lose control of the situation," Castro said in a speech addressed specifically to Bush before the morning. "You could shatter the immigration agreement and provoke a mass exodus that we would not be in a position to prevent, and you could bring about an all-out war between young American soldiers and the Cuban people," he said. "That would be very sad."
| For about 48 hr, then it would become progressively more happy. |
"You would never be able to win that war," the Cuban leader said. "Here you will not find a divided people."
Isn't it great how Fidel has managed to unite the people of Cuba against him? |
Dressed in his typical olive green uniform and cap, Castro spoke at insufferable length at a mahogany wood podium on a stage outside the oceanfront U.S. Interests Section — the American mission here. The coastal Malecon highway was crowded with tens of thousands of people ordered called out by their workplaces, schools and neighborhood authorities. The government estimated the crowd at 200,000, a number impossible to confirm independently but sounded ridiculous to us reporters. The Communist Party daily Granma said the morning gathering was called to deliver Cuba's "most energetic condemnation and protest against the brutal anti-Cuban measures by the current U.S. government."
| Nuttin like a cattle prod to persaude the masses to protest energetically. |
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