MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Castro says US can prevent any attack in its territory

Cuban president Fidel Castro said the United States government has all the needed capacity to prevent any attack on its territory, unless for political reasons, “it's interested that it should happen”.

Writing in the island's Juventud Rebelde Sunday edition Castro suggested that Washington has deliberately failed to stop terrorist attacks against US citizens because it needed to "deliver a bang" that would justify its war on terror. In the latest in a series of essays that Cuba's 80-year-old leader has begun writing every few days, Castro seized on U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff's comments this past week expressing a "gut feeling" that the U.S. faces an increased risk of attack this summer. "The government of the United States sees and hears all, with or without legal authority" said Castro and added "they can prevent any attack on their people, unless there is some imperial need to deliver a bang so that they can carry on with and justify the brutal war against the culture, religion, economy and independence of other peoples". The accusation came at the end of an essay in which Castro claimed Cubans are better cared for than US citizens.