CASTRO SNUFFS CIGAR ON SOVIET RIFT RUMORS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000201040009-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 1, 2010
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: June 28, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/01: CIA-RDP90-00552R000201040009-7
STAT
RTICI F 1,!71 "7-79
NPA
28 June 1985
Castro snuffs cigar
on Soviet rift rumors
By Roger Fontaine
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Brushing aside rumors of strains
in the Moscow-Havana connection,
Cuban leader Fidel Castro has told
interviewers that relations with the
Soviet Union are "excellent, better
than ever."
The ringing affirmation was
clearly an attempt to dispel any
notion that his absence from the
funeral of former Soviet President
Konstantin Chernenko signaled
trouble in the communist world.
The interview, lasting 25 hours,
was scheduled for publication in the
August issue of Playboy magazine.
It wab conducted by Rep. Mervyn M.
Dymally, D-Calif., and Jeffrey Elliot,
a free-lance writer.
The communist leader, who has
been in power for 26 years, dis-
missed any advantage for Cuba if
the U.S. trade embargo were lifted.
"I can tell you in all frankness our
relations with the Soviet Union are
excellent, better than ever;" he said.
The interview in late March
stretched over five days - his long-
est interview to date.
He vigorously denied that his
absence from the Chernenko
funeral last March indicated any rift
with Moscow and he offered an
elaborate explanation for it.
"[Itl occurred at a time when I
had an enormous amount of work.
On the day of his death, we had just
concluded a women's congress to
which I had devoted several days'
intense work;' Mr. Castro said.
"I worked for 42 consecutive
hours. No rest or sleep. Since I had
other visitors in town the following
days and I was worried about keep-
ing them waiting ... I decided to ask
my brother Raul to represent me at
the funeral:' he added.
Mr. Castro underlined his long,
unwavering commitment to Marx-
ism, denying that U.S. hostility had
driven him into the Soviet camp. He
said he was "a Marxist" even before
he entered prison after his abortive
attack on Moncada barracks in July
of 1953- the Cuban leader's earliest
claim to Marxism to date.
"Before our defeat at Moncada,
which sent me to prison, I already
had acquired the deepest convic-
tions. I had acquired them earlier,
upon reading books about socialism.
I was already a utopian communist.
I became convinced of the irratio-
nality, the madness of capitalism
just by studying its economics:' he
said.
"I was in my second year in law
school when I felt inclined toward
Marx's theories. I did not have the
knowledge I have today, but if I
hadn't had a Marxist orientation, I
would not have conceived of the
struggle against Batista," he added.
Mr. Castro said the prospect of
trade with the United States held lit-
tle appeal for him.
"Frankly, the United States has
fewer and fewer things to offer Cuba.
If we were able to export our pro-
ducts to the United States, we would
have to start making plans for new
lines of production to be exported to
the United States, because
everything we are going to produce
in the next five years has already
been sold to other markets:' Mr. Cas-
tro told his interviewers.
"We would have to take them away
from the other socialist countries in
order to sell them to the United
States, and the socialist countries
pay us much higher prices," he
added.
Mr. Castro dismissed any sugges-
tion that the Soviet Union had placed
pressure on Cuba to discipline its
economy or align itself fully with
Moscow's foreign policy.
"I cannot remember a single time
when the Soviets have attempted to
tell us what to do in our foreign or
domestic policy," he said.
He underlined his loyalty to Mos-
cow by repeatedly blaming the
United States for the cold war and
the arms race, asserting that the
Soviet Union's military buildup was
a response to being "surrounded by
nuclear bombers, nuclear subma-
rines, military bases, spy bases,
electronic installations."
"IThe Soviet) response reflects
decisions made in Washington - the
desire to protect themselves against
possible U.S. aggression. But they
are not the culprits. They are not to
blame for the arms race," he said.
Mr. Castro took pains to defend
Moscow on other sensitive ques-
tions, including the Soviet invasion
of Afghanistan in December 1979.
Calling Afghanistan "one of the
r tLos ac 'arUcountriis in the
world' Mr. Castro aid the rev-
olution of April 1978 had.been syb-
verte by-_the CIA . and 'tha
assistance was requested by two
Afghan government leaders.
Although President Castro
avoided directly defending Soviet,
methods employed against Afghan
rebels, he told the interviewers that
the Soviets have a legitimate stake in
preserving "the Afghan Revolution"
"I think Afghanistan could be a
nonaligned country - but one in
which the revolutionary regime was
maintained," Mr. Castro said.
Mr. Castro took a hard line on El
Salvador, defending by implication
the Soviet bloc's right to assist Marx-
ist forces in the region.
He expressed his full support for
El Salvador's Marxist guerrillas, and
dropped earlier talk of support for a
negotiated solution to the conflict.
Mr. Castro said the U.S. object in
El Salvador was "to exterminate
every last revolutionary; more gen-
erally, to destroy once and for all the
spirit of rebellion in this Central
American people."
The interview with Playboy mag-
azine is the latest of lengthy inter-
views Mr. Castro has given to
American news organizations,
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/01: CIA-RDP90-00552R000201040009-7
WASHINGTON TIMES