HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) -- President Fidel Castro, in an escalating political
                  campaign over the case of an anti-Castro Cuban exile captured in Panama, led a
                  protest on Saturday at which he blasted the leaders of El Salvador, Mexico and
                  Spain.

                  In military attire and waving a Cuban flag, Castro led thousands of
                  demonstrators in a rally demanding justice against Luis Posada Carriles, arrested
                  in Panama two weeks' ago for allegedly plotting to assassinate the Cuban leader.

                  The 72-year-old Posada is Havana's Public Enemy No. 1, accused of decades of
                  violence against the communist-run Caribbean island including a 1976 aircraft
                  attack that killed 73 people, and a 1997 bombing campaign against hotels.

                  Castro's announcement of the assassination plot, which led Panamanian police to
                  arrest Posada and three alleged accomplices -- and Cuba's refusal to condemn
                  "terrorism" in Spain by Basque separatist group ETA -- dominated the Ibero-
                  American Summit in Panama City earlier this month.

                  In a speech winding up Saturday's rally, Castro reiterated Havana's call to
                  prevent "the terrorist ring-leader (Posada) and his followers from escaping
                  justice with the support of their friends from the North."

                  That was a reference to Cuba's northern neighbor and long- time political foe,
                  the United States. Havana alleges that Posada has been backed over the years by
                  the CIA and anti- communist Cuban-American exiles in Florida.

                  Havana wants Posada and his associates extradited to Cuba, where they would
                  be tried for terrorism, a crime which carries the death penalty. Panamanian
                  President Mireya Moscoso has indicated they will likely be charged in her nation
                  for bringing in explosives in a bid to assassinate Castro.

                  Castro also had harsh words for El Salvador's President Francisco Flores, whom
                  he says ignored detailed warnings from Cuban security services about Posada's
                  activities in the Central American nation, where he has lived in recent years.

                  "The terrorist ring-leader was living, conspiring and operating from El Salvador,
                  which the Salvadoran government knew, tolerated and hid," Castro said. "That's
                  what I accuse him (Flores) of, and he cannot prove me wrong."

                  BLASTS EL SALVADOR, MEXICO, SPAIN

                  Castro said a detailed dossier on Posada was handed over to Flores, who heads
                  the right-wing ARENA party, on Oct. 5, 1999. "He did absolutely nothing.
                  Maybe he couldn't, due to lack of authority and courage."

                  But the 74-year-old Cuban leader's ire went further.

                  He blamed Spain for "cooking up in advance," with El Salvador and Mexico, the
                  "hypocritical" terrorism motion on ETA at the summit, which Havana said should
                  have been a wider condemnation, including U.S. aggression against Cuba.

                  "Spain is the emerging European economic power in Latin America which is
                  sometimes useful against the voracity of the North, but its political leadership
                  behaves with obvious inclination towards arrogance," said Castro, in a thinly
                  veiled reference to Spanish President Jose Maria Aznar.

                  There was also a harsh reference to Mexico, traditionally Castro's strongest ally
                  in Latin America, which has recently given Havana less than unconditional
                  support.

                  The terrorism motion in Panama was seconded by "the president of a different
                  Mexico, now ruled by the interests, principles and commitments imposed by the
                  Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the North," Castro said.

                  The other leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal in the Ibero-American
                  group backed the proposal "as a result of neoliberal affinity or the deceptiveness
                  of the theme," added Castro, underlining Cuba's isolation at the regional forum.

                  Castro promised Cubans "will not rest" in their battle to see Posada brought to
                  justice.

                  His views were echoed by speaker after speaker at the rally -- a weekly political
                  setpiece which takes place in a different location every Saturday.

                  "You bloody vultures, in this historic place, we accuse you of sowing so much
                  mourning and pain in the world, for causing us so much human, material and
                  economic damage," local teacher Liliana Suarez said, railing at anti-Castro
                  Cuban-Americans.

                  Saturday's rally took place in the eastern town of Guisa, where Castro's rebel
                  forces won a battle during the guerrilla war that led to the 1959 Cuban
                  Revolution. Another rally was set for Monday in Havana opposite the U.S.
                  diplomatic mission.

                      Copyright 2000 Reuters.