In his first comments since announcing he would step down as CubaÂ’s president after almost 50 years, Fidel Castro lashed out Friday at US presidential hopefulsÂ’ calls for change here, saying the only change needed is in the United States.In his
US President George W Bush “said my message was the beginning of the road to freedom in Cuba, in other words, to annexion” by the United States, Castro wrote. The United States occupied Cuba in the early 20th century and refuses to abandon its controversial base at Guantanamo, on Cuba’s southeastern tip. That gives Havana plenty of political currency with which to warn almost daily that a US occupation or annexation effort could come at any time.