CASTRO'S LURES IN TRADING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01315R000400130108-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 29, 2004
• Sequence Number: 108
• Publication Date: February 26, 1964
• Content Type: NSPR

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American States fact.-Cndin,z
committee accusing Cuba of
aggression and subversion
against Venezuela.
It does not appear that the
U. S. Is going to be able to
convince its European allies
or its OAS partners of the
need for urgent action to Iso-
late Cuba from the rest of
the free world.
By Barnard L. Collier The political implications
Latin-American Correspondent of an Administration failure
WASHINGTON. to "get tough" with Premier
A double-barreled Cuban Castro are bound to be dam-
crisis is brewing for the John- aging come next November,
son Administration and ov- say worried government ofri-
g cials.
e nment officials Yesterday, Despite increasingly strong
admitted it seems almost in- U. S. efforts to put its point
soluble in the heat of an dice- across, the nearly $100 mil-
tion year. lion the Castro regime has
One thorny Issue is the In... piled up in foreign exchange
crease of Allied trade with over the last two years looks
Fidel Castro's regime. Ina too tempting- to European
manufacturers.
speech before a meeting of In London Yesterday, the
the International Union of , enormous British-Dutch Shell
Electrical Workers here yes- Oil Co.,was seriously consid-
terday, Secretary of State cring a tentative Cuban offer
Dean Rusk made it clear that to negotiate compensation for
the U. S. is deeply concerned, the $50 million refinery the
"Tl.,e free nations" he said, Cubans Cook over almost four
who sell to Cuba goods 2nd Years ago. The offer came as
. a direct result of an $106
equipment important to tho ' million deal for 400 British
Cuban economy are interfer- buses signed last month.
in with the efforts of the An eight-man Cuban trade
free nations of this hemf mission was also reported
sphere to curb this danger. In heading for London seeking
the missile crisis of 1062, it, more deals, including an addi-
was evident that what hap- tional 1,000-bus contract
tied in Cuba could directly from the Leyland Motors
affect the security of the en. Corp., which first broke the
trade dam with its bus sale.
so." ,' lards are also getting in on
The other issue is the Luke- .the sudden trade rush, and
warm reception Latin-Amen if the Shell discussions work
out an almost irresistible in-
ducement to trade with Cuba
will present itself to. Europe.
To make matters stickler
i. Un. the
reld:.ads
with the F: S. tiie st. -
gcs!.ion has ari;ea several
times that f tins were done,
the millions of dollars to
11. S. property confiscated by
Cuba niialit be at least par-
tially indemnified.
The U. S. consistently has
declared that it will trot
recognize the Castro govern-
n:ent, which "does not speak
for the people of Cuba." The
question of what would hap-
pen if Premier Castro agreed
to negotiate over expropri-
ated U. S. property is always
greeted with: "It would be
political suicide for any Ad-
ministration even to suggest
renewed relations."
The problem of trade,
said one government official,
"Doesn't look as if it is going
to get solved. We are stand-
ing firm against it, and every
government willing to trade
with Cuba is just as firmly
committed not to change its
mind."
Because most of Europe has
maintained or resumed al-
most normal relations with
Cuba, it is becoming vastly
more difficult for the U. S.
to talk Latin-American gov-
ernments into sticking with
the U. S. In its anti-Castro
policy.
Despite the damaging OAS
committee report detailing
evidence that Cuba is export-
ing its Communist revolution
by aggressive means, there is
faint hope that the OAS will
take measures any more
forceful than its already de-
clared opposition to Cuba.
The possibility of a block-
ade to shut off arms traffic
from Cuba to the rest of.
Latin America is almost nil.
That, say most Latin diplo-
mats, would take a miracle
of Latin unity. Even the pos-
sibility of the withdrawal of
diplomatic recognition by the
.five latin nations which still
deal with Cuba seems remote.
Bolivia, Chile, Brazil, Uru-
guay and Mexico still recog-
nize the Castro regime, and
for reasons of internal pol-
itics and a Latin hands-off
tradition they are unlikely
to be swayed easily-even
by such a damning report.
Most diplomats agree that
it will take some fancy poli-
ticking and persuasion on rife
part of the U. S. and its sup-
porters in the OAS to gain
anything more than a moral
condemnation against Cuba.
and for the U. S. public, the
Venezuelans, and other com-
Approved For Release 2005/01/12: CIA-RDP81t3P# OO IOU48~48-8
a not enough.