Fired Cuban leaders "unworthy", Fidel Castro says

By Jeff Franks

HAVANA (Reuters) - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Tuesday publicly denounced two leading politicians fired in a cabinet reshuffle for taking on "unworthy roles" that filled the country's enemies with "illusions".

Castro, in a column published on the Internet, appeared to be referring to former Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and cabinet chief Carlos Lage, who were considered the top members of Cuba's younger generation of leaders before they were removed on Monday.

"The honey of power, for which they had made no sacrifice, awakened in them ambitions that drove them to an unworthy role," Castro wrote in a rare public attack against former proteges. He didn't name them but said they were the two ministers mentioned in news reports as those most affected by Monday's changes.

"The external enemy filled itself with illusions for them," said Castro.

The United States, where new President Barack Obama has said he would ease the 47-year-old U.S. trade embargo against communist Cuba, is the island's biggest foe, but it wasn't clear if Castro was referring to Washington and he gave no further details.

Raul Castro, Fidel Castro's younger brother who took over as president a year ago, named eight new ministers and cut out two ministries in the cabinet reshuffle, and said it was a move to streamline his government.

The headline of Fidel Castro's column was "Healthy Changes in the Council of Ministers."

Lage was replaced as cabinet chief, but was believed to still have, at least for now, his job as a vice president of Cuba's Council of State.