Fidel Castro said Tuesday that U.S. President George W. Bush appears deranged, and that Cubans would much rather live in the Caribbean island's "heaven" than try and survive in what he said was Bush's corrupt, capitalist "hell." In comments aired live on state-run television, Castro told thousands of teachers attending an international pedagogy conference in Havana that he closely watched Bush's inauguration speech Jan. 20 and saw "the face of a deranged person.""If only it were just the face," he said, to roars of applause. Castro, wearing his olive green military uniform, criticized Bush's government, linking it to corruption and torture. He then defended Cuba's socialist system, which Bush's administration has openly said should be replaced with a democratic, free-market one. "This country is heaven, in the spiritual sense of the word," he said. "And I say (to Bush), we prefer to die in heaven than survive in hell."
Castro, 78, stood up for much of his hours-long speech. After he broke his right arm and shattered his left kneecap in an accidental fall in October, the Cuban leader was in a wheelchair before he started standing up and walking again in December. In his speech, Castro also flowered praise on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, defending the character and ambitions of his close friend and ally. Castro said he laughs every day when he hears "the idiocies" said about Chavez. The Cuban leader also underlined Cuba's successes in education, where the government has focused many of its resources since the 1959 revolution thrust Castro into power. "Cuba is doing more for education than UNESCO," he said, referring to the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.