Cuba: Bush chat with dissidents a 'show'

The Communist Party newspaper Granma called the May 6 conversation between Bush, two Cuban activists and the wife of a noted political prisoner, "a show to bolster the image of a dead man who cannot be resurrected."

"Time is running out for Bush while Cuba reaffirms its socialist course," said the article.

The conversation between a sitting U.S. president and Cuban opposition leaders on the island was unprecedented and only possible because the dissidents gathered at the offices of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana to participate.

But it took Cuba's government six full days to respond formally, saying in the article that "the conversation was a palpable confirmation of the congenital servility of the counterrevolution."

It called Michael Parmly, head of the interests section, which the U.S. maintains here instead of an embassy, "an imperial sergeant," and said the dissidents used the call to ask Bush for money.

"Without dollars there is no counterrevolution," it said.

A day after speaking with dissidents, Bush gave a speech saying new Cuban President Raul Castro has made only "empty gestures at reform."