Thursday May 24 2:16 PM ET
After Anti-Castro Talk, Cuba Tells Bush 'Shut Up'
By Andrew Cawthorne

HAVANA (Reuters) - Responding to an aggressively anti-Castro policy speech by President Bush (news - web sites), Cuba's foreign minister recommended on Thursday that he ``shut up'' or tone down his language toward the communist-run island.

``We didn't think it possible President Bush could speak for so long without saying absolutely anything of coherence or common sense,'' Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said in the first official reaction to Bush's comments.

At a White House event last week attended by leading anti- communist Cuban Americans, Bush pledged to oppose efforts to weaken the U.S. embargo until Havana frees political prisoners, holds democratic elections and allows free speech.

In his clearest statement to date on Cuba, Bush said Castro is the only leader in the Americas ``who has no place at the democratic table'' and ended with the rallying cry ``Viva Cuba libre!'' -- Spanish for ``Long live free Cuba!''

In response, Perez heaped scorn on Bush for ``mechanically repeating a script'' prepared by ``minority sectors of the extreme right'' in the Cuban American population.

``The president should modestly shut up and understand that his efforts are best directed toward the internal situation,'' Perez said, arguing Bush should seek to clean up the ``anti- democratic'' electoral process that took him to power.

In a news conference laced with the irony that has become Havana's public style from President Fidel Castro (news - web sites) down, Perez said Bush had clearly not had time to study the Cuba issue because he was too busy repaying favors to energy multi- nationals and collecting funds for electoral campaigns.

``PRESIDENT BUSH IS WRONG''

``We offer him some free advice -- to inform himself better on Cuba and moderate his language,'' Perez said.

``President Bush is wrong if he thinks tough, threatening language against Cuba, will serve any purpose,'' he added. ``He should remember we have already seen nine American presidents before him leave office.''

Perez said that Bush's tough line on Cuba was designed to curry favor with the large Cuban American community in Florida, the state whose vote won him the U.S. presidential election.

That left Bush out of line with internal American and international opinion on the Cuba issue, he added.

The Cuba Policy Foundation, a new policy group, released a poll done in April showing that 63.3. percent of Americans support trade with Cuba. For nine years, the U.N. General Assembly has voted that Washington should end the embargo.

Perez also ironically expressed Cuba's ``fervent support'' for the ``brilliant'' and ``fabulous'' plan by two U.S. senators to provide $100 million over four years to dissidents and other non-government groups on the island.

Cuban dissidents fear the plan will play into Havana's hand by bolstering its argument that all domestic opponents to the ruling Communist Party are puppets of U.S. policy.
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