Castro criticizes L. American FTAs with U.S

Cuban leader Fidel Castro has criticized the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) Latin American countries have signed with the United States.

In an article headlined "The unanimous opinion" published in the official daily Granma on Thursday, Castro condemned the results of the FTAs.

He says that since signing the FTAs one year ago, neither employment or investment has increased in any of the countries in Central America. Nor have they obtained better trade conditions.

"This is a down to earth point of view of a sour reality," Castro said.

In the past two months Castro has published a series of articles, some of which argued against bio-fuel projects and stressed the harm they would cause to environment and human food production.

Castro has also protested against the release of an alleged terrorist -- the anti-Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles in the United States.

Cuba says Carriles organized a 1976 bombing of a Cuban passenger plane that killed 73 people in Venezuela, as well as an assassination attempt against Castro during the Panama Ibero-American summit in 2000.

The 79-year-old ex-CIA contractor was released on bail in April. Last week, a U.S. district judge threw out an immigration indictment against him, effectively freeing him to travel anywhere in the United States.

Source: Xinhua