Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro had some critical words for Stephen Harper in a new 1,200-word essay entitled “Stephen Harper’s Illusions.”

Castro criticized the Harper administration for the environmental damage being caused by the extraction of crude oil from the Alberta oilsands.

In the essay, which is posted on the Cuban government website and rambles at points, Castro claims that the United States is forcing Canada to extract oil, causing irreparable damage to the environment.

“I knew about the damage caused by the Yankees to the people of Canada,” the essay said. “They forced the country to look for oil by extracting it from huge extensions of sand that are impregnated with that fluid, thus causing an irreparable damage to the environment of that beautiful and extensive country.”

Castro also accuses Canadian mining companies of harming millions of people in Latin America, indirectly or not.

While Castro gave up the Cuban presidency four years ago, he still offers his insights periodically on the official government website.