Castro visits conservative, upsets Brazilian left

Castro stopped in Salvador en route to South Africa, where he will attend the Nonaligned Movement Summit of Heads of State and Government in Durban.

The Cuban president spent an important part of his daylong visit lunching with Sen. Antonio Carlos Magalhaes, leader of the Liberal Front Party and a supporter of Cardoso's campaign for reelection on Oct. 4.

Castro said his four-hour meeting with Magalhaes was merely an informal, friendly gesture toward a ``man who worked hard to strengthen relations between Cuba and Brazil'' while he was minister of communications under Jose Sarney (1985-1990).

Castro said the talk was completely apolitical and that his intentions were to make an informal assessment of the critical situation of emerging countries affected by the Russian financial crisis.

``Please, don't blame me for the results of the electoral campaign,'' Castro told EFE after his luncheon with Magalhaes.

Before the meeting, Magalhaes said that the talk would involve politics and scoffed at the Workers Party (PT) and the Brazilian Communist Party, which criticized Castro for not making some sort of contact with them during his third trip to Salvador.

``Fidel Castro has left a bad impression on the Brazilian left by solely meeting with the leaders of one party,'' said Lidice Damatta, former mayor of Salvador and a member of the Workers Party.

In comments to the press before having lunch with Magalhaes, Castro said he favored Brazil's bid to win a seat on the United Nations' Security Council. That body, the Cuban leader added, needs to be overhauled to end ``the dictatorship that prevails,'' which essentially keeps the organization ``at the exclusive service of the super powers.''