``How much power will he give the mafia of Miami?'' asked a lengthy article in Juventud Rebelde, the daily of Cuba's Union of Young Communists. ``What will happen to foreign policy?''

There was no official government reaction. President Fidel Castro spent the day in talks with visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Communist Cuba has been subject to a U.S. trade embargo for nearly four decades, and the U.S. presidential contest was of great interest on the island. Castro has said he didn't expect any changes under either Bush or Al Gore, but the vice president was generally seen as the lesser of two evils.

Gore Surrendered, read the headline of Juventud Rebelde's article, accompanied by a cartoon of a sad-looking Gore holding up a white flag.

``The odyssey and the chaos in the North American presidential elections has ended,'' the article read. `` `Democracy' is adrift.''

Written by Juana Carrasco Martín, a frequent participant in nightly discussions on state television, the article said the post-election process -- marked by recounts and court battles -- ``exposed the fallaciousness of a system and of a nation that, up to now, had considered itself the omnipotent judge'' of other countries' elections.