FIDEL CASTRO RIDING HIGHER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000200930012-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 4, 2000
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: March 27, 1964
• Content Type: NSPR

STATINTL
Approved For Release 2000/08/26 : CIA-RDP75-0
WASHINGTON STAR MAR 2 7 1964.
POINT OF VIEW
a
By MARGUERITE IIIGGINS
Star Speeial Writer
Fidel, Castro is riding higher
,.in Central and South America
than at any time since .the
October 1962. Cuban ,. missile
crisis, 'according to information
available in Washington.
And his. current campaign to
gain "acceptability" in this
hemisphere has clearly gotten a
boost from Senator . Fulbright's
pronouncement that the Castro
..Communist regime is here to
stay indefinitely.
This dictum. by the Senate
Foreign R'elations..: Committee
chairman was not cleared or ap-
proved .. by... President Johnson.
Senator Fulbright's views have
,been quietly but' decisively. re-
pudiated by insiders as any. sort
of guideline; to. United .,States
policy.
On the 'contrary, President
.Johnson is.. personally . deeply
engaged in. the fight to lead. the
organization . of A in e r j c a n
States in ' an ' effective condem-
nation , of Mr. Castro for his
;_aggresive actions in the fall of
.1963 in ;sending a`? huge 'arms
cache to Venezuela for guerrilla
warfare.
it will take all Mr. Johnson's
most eloquent: persuasion to
'counteract ~' t he . lackadaisical
'attitude of most Latin American
,states . toward .this proof of
Cuban subversion. Most Latin
diplomats give the impression,
publicly, that they would: like to
sweep this proof quietly ` under
the rug so that nothing would
have to be done about it. :
And, the person' most entitled
alas:-:to.'say. "I-told-you-so"
'.'concerning tho. improving psy-
chological climate around Mr.
Castro is, none other than Nikita
Khrushchev, who did'. a great
deal. to master-mind .the whole
thing.
intelligence community.-. shows
that Premier Khrushchev. . has
long, been. arguing that. Mr.
Castro should. adopt a more
reasonable stance and trot out
praise .,of peaceful co-existence
with.. a: .view to, disarming his
enemies psychologically, depriv-
ing Washington. of arguments
for sustaining . punitive action
such as economic boycotts, and
finally in order'to re-establish
,not friendship - but tradulg
relations with the United States
so that Russian subsidies of the
Cuban. economy could' be 'low-
ered. '
It, took the, better part, of a
year for the Kremlin.. to tame
Mr. Castro's temper and 'it is
only in the recent past that he
has-with an exception or two-.
played the role of the sensible
statesmen who is willing. to do
business (of sorts) with Uncle
Sam if Uncle Sam will only be
sensible.in return.
It is standard .Marxist .theory,
,of course, that "greedy capital-
ists" will rush to trade with the
Communists once the atmos-
phere is de-fused of crisis. And
the United States wheat 'deal,
with . the Soviet Union was f
bound to . have. an enormous l
But the prevailing psycholog-
ical winds are unfavorable=-to
these United States efforts and
psychological :impact despite all
the' fine-print arguments about
how.different this is from trade
w i t h .' Cuba. Psychologically
these arguments will not wash,
The reason is' this: Everybody
knows that Cuba could not exist
without Russia's. protection and
support and therefore anything
that serves Russia's interests at
this point serves Cuba is well.
' ' Used as Excuse'.
In any case, the wheat " deal
(puny as it was) served as thel
excuse' for France,. Britain and
other allies 'to deal with Vr.?
Castro, enhancing his respec-'
tability and acceptability in thiis.
hemisphere and the world.
...The United States -made
an
other psychological mistake;'
which like the-wheat deal, dates
back to things for which Presi-
dent Johnson was not responsi-
ble. This was the belief that Mr.
Castro's exposure (in the mis-
sile crisis) would brand him a
Soviet. puppet. and contribute to
his ostracism.,
This. , writer has.. -seen in a
recent trip to Central America
how -quickly Mr. ? Castro has
regained his Robin Hood image,
especially 'Among the young.,
There_ is more 'sophistication'
among Latin diplomats, whose?
private utterances. are far dif
ferent than the, tolerant public
attitudes . toward. X r. Castro
that. are the fashion. The Latins
say bluntly, that' ,in' lifting the
1962. b 1 o'c k a de' prematurely
under conditions that left Mr.
Castro a Soviet' protectorate,
the. United States. gave the
impression that the Cubans had,
carried a great part of the day..
And said one. diplomat, "Castro
is still the only' recent Latin
who has said `Yankee go, home'
and made it stick." '
'((D Newsday, 1964)
STATINTL
Approved For Release 2000/08/26 : CIA-RDP75-00149R000200930012-8