Cuban President Mr Fidel Castro abruptly walked out of a major United Nations aid summit in Mexico last night.
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Mr Fidel Castro addresses the press before leaving the UN summit in Monterrey yesterday
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Mr Castro attacked the West's aid policies in a fiery speech and then told the more than 50 heads of state present that a "special situation" was forcing him to return to Cuba straight away.
"I beg you all to excuse me since I am not able to continue in your company due to a special situation created by my participation in this summit and I am obliged to return immediately to my country," Mr Castro said.
Mr Ricardo Alarcon, the president of Cuba's national assembly, refused to explain why Mr Castro left but said Mr Bush had made it clear he does not want to meet the Cuban leader. "It is his [Mr Bush's] problem and it is up to his psychiatrist to help him deal with it," Mr Alarcon said.
In his speech, Mr Castro ridiculed efforts by rich nations to reduce global poverty, saying they were masters of a "genocidal" economic system that condemns billions to misery.
"The existing world economic order constitutes a system of plundering and exploitation like no other in history," he said.
Mr Castro said the West now lorded over the rest of the world because it had plundered continents during centuries of colonial rule. "The world economy today is a gigantic casino," he said.
The UN meeting, which began on Monday and ends today, is aimed at boosting aid flows to poor nations and reducing poverty levels.
