``They have imposed upon us a world government,'' Castro said during the second day of a five-day meeting of economists he is sponsoring here. ``We are against this world government and must pay the consequences.''
Castro's statements came during a daylong series of speeches by economists criticizing economic globalization and the world financial crisis they say it has caused.
The Cuban president criticized the U.S. government's ability to pressure the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund -- lending institutions underwritten by Western financial powers that developing nations turn to for loans and credits in times of financial crisis.
Castro also blasted ``this world government'' for ``tossing bombs to the right and to the left without asking anyone'' -- an apparent reference to the recent attacks on Iraq.
Castro proposed the forum last year, as the financial crisis was spreading across Asia. It hit Brazil in August, when investors pulled their money out of the country for fear that it would default on its loans.
During the 1980s, Cuba hosted similar economic forums on the foreign debt then weighing down Latin American nations and became a regional leader in support of foreign debt moratoriums.
Hundreds of economists are attending the forum at Havana's Convention Palace.
Most of the speakers and participants were from developing countries, primarily in Latin America. They included economists Theotonio Dos Santos of Brazil, Arturo Huerta of Mexico and Alfredo Eric Calcagno of Argentina.
Castro opposes free market policies and points to the current global financial crisis as proof of its harm to developing countries.
Economists fear that if Brazil succumbs to an Asian-style currency crisis, its economy -- Latin America's largest -- could infect and drag down other economies in the region.
© Copyright 1999 The Associated Press