HAVANA -- (AP) -- A Cuban newspaper expressed concern Thursday at George
 W. Bush's presidential victory, asking how much Cuban exiles in Florida would
 influence the new administration.

 ``How much power will he give the mafia of Miami?'' asked a lengthy article in
 Juventud Rebelde, the daily of Cuba's Union of Young Communists. ``What will
 happen to foreign policy?''

 There was no official government reaction. President Fidel Castro spent the day in
 talks with visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

 Communist Cuba has been subject to a U.S. trade embargo for nearly four
 decades, and the U.S. presidential contest was of great interest on the island.
 Castro has said he didn't expect any changes under either Bush or Al Gore, but
 the vice president was generally seen as the lesser of two evils.

 Gore Surrendered, read the headline of Juventud Rebelde's article, accompanied
 by a cartoon of a sad-looking Gore holding up a white flag.

 ``The odyssey and the chaos in the North American presidential elections has
 ended,'' the article read. `` `Democracy' is adrift.''

 Written by Juana Carrasco Martín, a frequent participant in nightly discussions on
 state television, the article said the post-election process -- marked by recounts
 and court battles -- ``exposed the fallaciousness of a system and of a nation that,
 up to now, had considered itself the omnipotent judge'' of other countries'
 elections.