US on offensive in LatAm: Castro

---

HAVANA, Dec 15 (AP): Fidel Castro says President Barack Obama's "friendly smile and African-American face" are hiding Washington's sinister intentions for Latin America - more evidence of a cooling in relations between Cuba and the U.S. after a thaw had seemed possible just months ago.
In a letter to Hugo Chavez that the Venezuelan president read at the close of a summit of leftist Latin American nations Monday, Castro said the U.S. "empire is on the offensive again" in the region.
He blamed Washington for a military coup that toppled leftist President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras in June and criticised a U.S. agreement with Colombia that allows U.S. troops greater access to seven of that country's military bases.