Cuban President Fidel Castro talks with reporters September 13, 2004, as he checks on preparedness in western Pinar del Rio province just hours ahead of Hurricane Ivan. Hurricane Ivan, leaving a trail of battered islands and at least 68 dead in a rampage across the Caribbean, churned closer to Cuba on Monday with 160-mph (260-kph) winds, on a path that could take it to U.S. shores. REUTERS/Henry Romero MF