U.S. - Cuban relations

It was indeed a rare moment. After 41 years of strained relations — a former American President, Jimmy Carter, and the Cuban leader share a public moment at the funeral. But its significance may have stopped there. The divide between Castro and the American government is huge.

Paule Robitaille: But the meeting in Montreal isn't that a sign of normalization? Could it indicate normalisation in relations with the United States?

Fidel Castro: No, it was completely coincidental.

At one stage, inside the cathedral, they put a group of the visitors and Trudeau´s intimate friends in the cathedral entrance. We were there for about 20 to 25 minutes. I spoke with various people, senators that came to greet me, and Carter was amongst the few foreign personalities. I greeted him but I didn't mention U.S. or domestic politics. I would have liked to ask him about the current situation in this pre-electoral period, but I didn't want to talk of that.

Of all the Presidents that have held executive power in the US since 1959 until the present day, the person that most deserves my respect, for his ethics and his decency, is Carter. I say it frankly.

Paule Robitaille: But we have a little question. We want to know: the elections in the U.S. are in a month's time, who is the best president for the Cuban people, Bush or Gore?

Fidel Castro: Although they told me you were going to talk of Trudeau, I suspected you were going to ask me something like that. And I'm going to try and answer you as elegantly as possible.

I don't like either of them, and I'm thinking of doing the same as the majority of Americans on election day: going to the beach, and not voting, I'm not going to vote on election day. I am absolutely neutral; no, not neutral, I'm against both of them, I´d like another candidate. But there are only these two and my position is this: I don't like either of them.

Paule Robitaille: And not Gore?

Fidel Castro: I don't want to judge, because I would have to offer some severe criticisms of both candidates, and I don't want to get involved in that feud.

We are relaxed, there has been a great number of presidents in the United States and all have been mistaken in their relations with Cuba, so there can be others to make the same mistakes. We don't have any expectations; we are cool.

Paule Robitaille: Trudeau always wanted to see normalization of your relations with the U.S. I think that you also desire this normalization.

Fidel Castro: We don´t deny that, and yes, we do want to normalize our relations with the U.S., especially with the American people, for our opinion, for our appreciation of that people; because although they have been fooled many times and have defended unjust causes they tend to be idealistic, very idealistic, and for them to defend a bad cause one must lie to them first. Therefore, when they believe they are doing what is right, they support that cause although it's unjust; but when they discover the truth, they are then capable of changing their minds.

The kidnapping of Elián González, whom they had initially never heard of, provoked indifference and some support among the American population. As they learned the truth, their opinion changed, and in the end 80 per cent of Americans supported the return of the child. Within the Afro-American community this figure was 82 per cent, and that won the American people much acclaim. But in our country, hatred against the U.S. people was never instilled; we accused the government, the government's politics, but we were not fanatics.

Paule Robitaille: Commander, I know it is difficult, but, on the other hand, many people do want to go to the U.S. because life is difficult here. Is there any concession that you can make to improve the relationship, or can you normalize the situation with the U.S.?

Fidel Castro: In the area of migration, no country has done more than Cuba.

As to the fight against drug trafficking, no country has spontaneously fought more against drug trafficking than Cuba. So, well, we have had some relations.

We haven't blockaded the U.S., we haven't prohibited citizens travelling to the U.S., we haven't stopped anybody trading with the U.S. We don't have any blockade, any hostility, any aggressive measures against the U.S.; it was the U. S. administrations that adopted these measures against us. That's why, simply, it is up to them to eradicate these measures and then the appropriate conditions for a normal and civilized relationship between the two countries will be established. What more do you want to know? I am prepared to answer you.

Paule Robitaille: No, no. There is no possible concession.

Fidel Castro: We will not make any concessions, because we will not discuss issues that affect the sovereignty of our country; we will not make any kind of concession. They believe they have the best system, and we believe we have the best system in every sense. We are not going to get tangled up in a long debate about this; but we can demonstrate, mathematically, what our system is, what it does for society, what it has always done, what its life and behaviour have been, despite the deluge of lies and slander.

Our people, more than anyone, know the truth about the treatment that humans are given in this country. We have that authority and that moral advantage.

Cuban Politics

Fidel Castro is one of the longest ruling leaders; 41 years in power — the age of the Cuban revolution. And his country is one of the last bastions of communism — along with China and North Korea. His record on human rights has been highly criticized. But on these issues, Castro remains defensive. His position remains, to quote his most famous catch phase, "history will absolve me."

Paule Robitaille: Could there be political change here?

Fidel Castro: A political change in which direction? To capitalism? No, no! No way.

Paule Robitaille: And why?

Fidel Castro: What type of political change do you want? Tell me.

Paule Robitaille: Like Gorbachev, for example.

Fidel Castro: Do you desire the ruin of Cuba? What was the result of Gorbachev´s politics after a certain time? Surrounded by a group of people, whom only the CIA knew completely, they destroyed the history of the country, demoralized and disarmed the country, and didn't do what they should have, and what he without a doubt wanted to do: improve socialism. That socialism should have been perfected and not destroyed.

Paule Robitaille:You have 300 political prisoners.

Fidel Castro: Three hundred? Listen, if we jailed all of those who receive a salary from the United States to fight against the revolution, there would be a lot more than those three hundred. I do not know the exact number; I am not up to date on it. Let us admit that there are between 200 or 300, 320, or 400.

At the beginning of the Revolution, when the United States organized 300 counterrevolutionary and terrorist organizations, and invaded the Bay of Pigs, blockaded this country, and encouraged counterrevolution in every possible way, we ended up with up to 20, 000 prisoners, referred to as political, counterrevolutionary prisoners. You call them political prisoners, I am not going to argue about that.

Call them whatever you like, we do not call them ordinary prisoners, because they are not ordinary prisoners. We do not call them political prisoners because they are counterrevolutionary prisoners. And the word political has a different, more honourable connotation for us. These are prisoners who have fought against their own country.

Do you know where most of them are? Almost all over there in the United States. But it wasn't the United States which gave them their freedom, it was us. Through humane rehabilitation plans, we gave them jobs, paid them a salary and, when they were released, we ourselves made the arrangements for them to leave, because many of them wanted to go over there.

Look for a Latin American country that can say what Cuba can say. Not one extrajudicial execution, let them search for one. Never a political assassination, let them search for one. No person ever tortured, let them search for one. It does not matter how many times this slander has been repeated, let them look for one and see if they can find just one. Go with your colleague or come back and travel around the whole island and ask the people if they have known anyone who has been tortured, yet that slander has been thrown at Cuba billions of times.

Paule Robitaille:Is the economic situation difficult now?

Fidel Castro: Of course it is difficult. But it is less difficult than 10 years ago, because we are bearing up under a double blockade. Is there any other country in the world that has achieved this feat, withstanding a double blockade? The U.S. one , which was made worse when the Soviet Union collapsed, and the one that flowed from the events following the collapse of the Socialist camp and the Soviet Union. These events deprived us of practically all our markets, all our trade and placed our country in such a terrible situation that only a high level of patriotic and political consciousness and a great spirit of sacrifice have made it possible to overcome such trials which no other country in Latin America would have been able to overcome.

When 30,000 people were missing in Argentina, nobody broke off relations with Argentina. The alliance of the "civilized" and "Christian" West with the government of those genocides who disappeared 30,000 people was wonderful. The Argentine military collaborated in Central America in the dirty wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua.

Nobody broke off relations with the Central American countries which disappeared more than 100,000 people. You know what happened in Central America, you must know about it. You must know what happened in Chile and you must also know who was behind the coup d'etat in Chile.

Where are the guilty parties? Why do they not talk about the guilty parties? I think I have the right to ask myself this question. And that is the kind of democracy we don't want, Paule.

Are you going to broadcast what I am saying?

Let's see, I have criticized you. We shall see if your freedom of the press is only for you and I do not have the right for a single one of my arguments to be heard.

Paule Robitaille: But how are you going to overcome this crisis, which is incredible?

Fidel Castro: Do not worry, I am absolutely and totally certain that we are overcoming this crisis.

We are growing in spite of that blockade. That is why neither of the candidates frightens us, nor worries us, we are calm. And what is more, this blockade has to disappear. There are more and more people opposed to it, that blockade is untenable. Meanwhile, we are capable of keeping up the struggle for as many years as they want. Now, there will not be one iota of prestige left for those who defend that policy which is so inhumane and so unjust, because we have what it takes to defend ourselves, we have what it takes to broadcast our message to the world. And we know that we are living in a world that is very different from the world that existed when Trudeau came.

Paule Robitaille: No, thank you very much for your time, for your visit to Montreal. It has been a very great pleasure for me talking to you.

Fidel Castro: Thank you very much, perhaps I got a little carried away, because you cannot talk about these things without a certain amount of passion.

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