HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): Convalescing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is urging industrialized nations to press US President George W. Bush to say what he really thinks about climate change at a summit next week.
In a new article published Wednesday, Castro said it appeared "very difficult" for Europeans and Americans to nail down an agreement on climate change due to Washington's opposition to tighter restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions.
Even though British Prime Minister Tony Blair "declares that he will convince his friend George," Castro wrote, "George should say what he really thinks at the G8 meeting, including on the dangers threatening peace and food for human beings."
"Someone should ask him," Castro added in the article to be published in the official daily Granman and titled "The G8 Meeting," a copy of which was distributed in advance to the media on Tuesday.
"He should not try to escape with the aid of his friend Blair."
Leaders from the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia will attend the Group of Eight summit in Heiligendamm, Germany June 6-8.
Castro, 80, has now written 14 essays in two months as he uses his articles to convey his thoughts while recovering from gastrointestinal surgery that has sidelined him from power since July.
In his latest article, Castro, who has skewered the United States and Britain over their military spending, criticized London again over last week's decision to order another fourth nuclear-powered attack submarine.
"Perhaps someone with one of the new computer programs from (Microsoft founder) Bill Gates could tally the war spending that deprives humanity of education, health and culture," he said.
In an article published Tuesday, Castro accused Bush of wanting to have him killed.
"I am not the first and will not be the last that Bush ordered deprived of life, or of those that he proposed to be killed as an individual or in a large group," Castro wrote in an article titled "Ideas Cannot Be Killed."
Castro has not been seen in public since handing over power to his brother Raul Castro on July 31 while he recovers from his operation.
But he has been seen in videos and newspaper pictures, while Cuban officials have been giving regular, upbeat updates about his recovery.
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