Castro rebuffs Bush's 'sex lies'

Castro accused Bush of insulting Cuba

Cuban President Fidel Castro has denied recent charges by US President George W Bush that the communist island has become a destination for sex tourists.

Speaking at a Revolution Day ceremony, Mr Castro said "Bush's lies" were made up to justify last month's restrictions on travel to Cuba by Cuban-Americans.

The Cuban leader also questioned Mr Bush mental capacities, calling him a "sinister figure" and past alcoholic.

Mr Bush said earlier in July Cuba lured sex tourists to earn hard currency.

Mr Bush is the tenth US president Mr Castro has faced and the one he appears to have the least respect for, the BBC's Stephen Gibbs in Havana reports.

'Driven by rage'

"In the feverish and fundamentalist mind of the all-powerful head of the White House... one now has to save Cuba not only from tyranny but also... from sexual exploitation," Mr Castro said in the town of Santa Clara to mark the 51st anniversary of the revolution.

Bush imposed tougher curbs on travel to Cuba in June

"There are many in the world who know very little about the Cuban revolution, and could fall prey to the lies diffused by the United States," he said.

Mr Castro spent much of his nearly two-hour speech reading extracts from a recently published book by a US psychoanalyst who portrays Mr Bush as a man driven by rage and fear.

"He [Bush] depends on religion as a defence mechanism, substituting thought.... In some ways, he doesn't even have to think," the Cuban leader said.

President Bush has spoken about giving up drinking in 1986, prompted by a spiritual awakening.

During a speech in Florida on 16 July, Mr Bush accused the Cuban president of turning his country into a major destination for sex tourism, which is "a vital source of hard currency to keep his corrupt government afloat."

In the coming months it seems likely that more claims and counterclaims will be crossing the Florida straits, our correspondent says.

Florida is a key state in the coming US presidential election with a big Cuban-American community.

To court their votes, presidential candidates cannot ignore Fidel Castro, our correspondent adds.