Cuban president Fidel Castro (R) meets with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. AFP PHOTO

"There are so many phenomena taking place in the world that no one has been able to explain so far," Castro, 79, said at a meeting of Latin American leaders in Cordoba, Argentina.

"It has every economist dazed.'' Castro, repeatedly pointing his forefinger to the ceiling, cited soaring prices of copper, aluminum, gold and sugar, saying "we don't know the consequences of all that because no one knows the chaos that this has turned into."

Dressed in a gray suit with red tie, Castro also took advantage of the meeting to embrace Venezuela as an important source of the region's oil. His comments were preceded by speeches by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales, who both praised the Cuban leader.

Castro used his more than 30-minute speech to rattle off statistics on health care in Latin America, such as infant mortality rates. He urged the region's leaders, including Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, whose country is the world's biggest producer of copper, to use proceeds from natural resource exports to provide better care for citizens.

'Powerful Producers'

"We are here in the presence of powerful producers of commodities globally," Castro said as he pointed to Chavez, whose country is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter.

Commodity prices remain near their highest level in at least 31 years, according to the Reuters/Jefferies CRB commodity price index. The CRB index is up 13 percent in the past year. Prices for copper have quintupled since January 2003, while oil prices have more than doubled in the same period, mainly pushed by demand from China, the world's fastest-growing major economy.

Oil, which rose to a record $78.40 a barrel a week ago, was little changed at the end of last week, climbing 18 cents to $74.45 a barrel at the 2:30 p.m. close of floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Copper for delivery in September plunged 8.65 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $3.323 a pound on the Comex division of the exchange.

The Cuban leader, who rose to power through a peasant revolution that ousted U.S.-backed Gen. Fulgencio Batista in 1959, also said the dollar is losing value. He said China, which has almost $1 trillion in international reserves, should attempt to get rid of some of its holdings in dollars.

"No one wants to keep dollars now because it is now just paper," Castro said. 'It's only paper." Castro also alluded to speculation he died, saying even he wasn't sure whether he would make the trip to Argentina last week.

"I'm laughing because many people didn't know if I was coming here -- in fact even I didn't know," Castro said.

Trade Bloc

The meeting was the first attended by Venezuela as a full member of the Mercosur free-trade group. Castro thanked Venezuela's support, including the daily sale of about 100,000 barrels of crude at preferential terms, which is "greatly aiding" the Cuban economy.

On Friday Cuba signed an accord reducing tariffs with Mercosur. None of the countries involved detailed the list of the goods included in the agreement.

Chavez, 51, said energy can help bolster trade and political ties across Latin America. He said his efforts to integrate oil and gas fields in the region will help Latin America gain independence from the U.S.

"Energy is a powerful tool for integration in Latin America," Chavez said.

Chavez also used the occasion to endorse Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's re-election bid in October. Pointing to Lula across a bed of flowers made to look like the Southern Cross, Chavez shouted: "Win, Lula, win''.