He said George W Bush's support for the use of food crops in fuel productionwould cause 3bn deaths from hunger.

The article in the Granma newspaper did not mention Mr Castro's health.

Officials say they expect Mr Castro - who temporarily handed over power tohis brother last July - to resume activities in government soon.

Last month, Mr Castro appeared in a live radio broadcast for the first timesince falling ill.

The Cuban leader's failure to appear in public - and the silence from theCuban authorities - had fuelled speculation about the seriousness of hiscondition.

Ethanol targets

Mr Castro's article appears in Thursday's edition of Granma, under theheadline: "Condemned to premature death by hunger and thirst more than 3bnpeople of the world."

In it, he says he has been "meditating quite a bit sincePresident Bush's meeting with North American automobile makers".

During that meeting on Monday, Mr Castro writes, "the sinister idea ofconverting food into combustibles was definitively established as the economicline of foreign policy of the United States".

Mr Bush has set targets for an increased use of ethanol - which in the US is mainlymade from corn. The USgovernment hopes this will reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil.

The US and Brazil recentlysigned an agreement to develop biofuels, and their presidents are expected tohold further talks on the matter at the weekend.