Brazil: Castro's Biofuel Criticisms Old

Celso Amorim said that while he had not read Castro's attack on U.S. biofuel policy in a Cuban newspaper, he felt it represented a respectable, if behind-the-times opinion.

"President Fidel Castro is a person who is a respectable and historically important figure," Amorim said.

"He has some ideas that are outdated," the minister added, saying that he had accompanied a Brazilian delegation to Havana 20 years ago "and at that time Castro was already saying alcohol would never work because sugar was a noble product." Ethanol is a form of alcohol.

Brazil produces ethanol from sugar cane, while ethanol in the United States is made from corn.

In a front-page editorial Thursday in the Communist Party daily, Castro described the U.S. policy of encouraging the use of biofuels as "the sinister idea of converting food into fuel."

The remarks indirectly touched on Brazil because President Bush and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva agreed earlier this month to promote the use and production of ethanol.

Brazil is the world's second largest producer of ethanol after the United States.

Amorim said that Castro's criticism, "are his opinion, we will respect them, but I believe this opinion has to be balanced with others."

"I personally believe the even Cuba would very much benefit from the world ethanol market," Amorim said.