Castro plans to attend U.N. Millennium Summit in New York

HAVANA (AP) - Fidel Castro, who has made a career of battling U.S. influence in the region, announced Friday that he is coming to the United States to address next week's U.N. Millennium Summit with his vision of the future, Cuban officials said.

It would be the Cuban leader's first visit to the United States since 1995. Cuba has requested visas for Castro and other top officials and has already discussed preliminary security arrangements with the U.S. Secret Service and the New York Police Department, the Foreign Ministry said in press statement.

The Millennium Summit, which begins Wednesday, will bring together more than 150 world leaders at the United Nations in New York.

''This morning, the United States government has been informed that companero Fidel will lead the Cuban (U.N.) delegation,'' the Cuban statement said.

''Now everything depends on the attitude that the U.S. government assumes, if it decides to repeat or not the situation with Alarcon,'' the statement said. It was referring to a decision last week to deny a U.S. visa to Ricardo Alarcon, the leader of Cuba's National Assembly.

But Alarcon was not coming to the United States for an official U.N. gathering. The United States is obliged to grant Castro a visa under a 1947 U.N. rule that requires the host country to grant visas to officials attending U.N. meetings. It was at the 50th anniversary of the United Nations in 1995 that Castro last spoke in New York.

Nevertheless, Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., demanded Friday that neither Castro nor any other high-ranking Cuban official be allowed into the country for the summit. The chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee said Cuba has been mistreating U.S. visitors.

When asked about Helms' demand, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard cited the host country agreement but noted: ''There is a small caveat to that, that if there are overriding national security concerns, visas can be denied. But otherwise that's a matter between the United States and Cuba so I wouldn't want to comment further.''

At U.N. headquarters, the president of the General Assembly and co-chairman of the Millennium Summit told The Associated Press that Castro's participation is ''a good thing.''

Theo-Ben Gurirab called the Cuban leader a strong voice for the Third World. He expressed hope that Castro will meet President Clinton face-to-face during the three-day meeting.

''We will provide a corner for them to talk to one another,'' said Gurirab, who is Namibia's foreign minister.

The Cuban statement revealed few details about the trip, but Castro would likely arrive at least a day before the Sept. 6-8 meeting of chiefs of state.