Newspaper Page Text
A confrontation with Castro
Fidel moves very quickly
(EDITOR'S NOTE: NEA
Reporter Ira Berkow is
the second accredited
American journalist—and
the first news service rep
'esentative —to report
from Cuba in nearly two
years. He was permitted
to travel freely through
out the country. His per
sonal report takes the
form of a diary.)
(Last of Seven Articles.)
By IRA BERKOW
(Copyright © 197] by Newspaper
Enterprise Attn.)
HAVANA - (NEA) - The
phone rings, rings and jan
gles me out of bed. It is 5:30
in the morning. Still dark.
“The Prime Minister is
arriving, do you want to
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All General Contractors
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Spalding County Building Regulations Require
General Contractors, Electrical, Plumbing,
Heating and Air Conditioning Contractors
doing work in Spalding County be licensed by
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Failure to secure license and job permits is a
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Regulations.
License and permits issued in the County
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Spalding County
Commissioners
come to the airport?” asks
the press attache of the Cu
ban Foreign Ministry. “I will
wait for you in the lobby.”
I quickly dress. I wear a
sweater and no tie; Cubans
have become especially cas
ual dressers since the Revo
lution—even bank tellers
wear open-necked sport
shirts and do not tuck them
into their pants.
Junco, a most friendly
and burly middle-aged press
attache, meets me in the
Havana Libre lobby. Isn’t it
a bit early for the people to
meet the Prime Minister?
He smiles, but replies with
serious pride, “You must be
ready at all times when you
are a revolutionary. To
move, to fight. The Prime
Minister moves very quick
ly."
No time for breakfast.
Some foreign journalists,
some local journalists and
some party functionaries pile
into a small bus. The morn
ing is surprisingly cool, for
Havana. Still pleasant,
though.
I sit beside a journalist
from Milan. We see a stir
ring in the streets, already.
Signs are being nailed to
posts and fences: “Welcome
Fidel.” Hung from windows:
“The people love you, Fidel”
Red - white - and - blue, one
starred Cuban flags unfurl.
Children are about. Incred
ibly, rickety pick-up trucks,
seemingly from rural areas,
crammed with standing,
straw-hatted men and wom
en with some bongo drums
and horns, are arriving on
the road to the airport. News
travels fast. We pass loud
speakers in schools and fac
tories that are playing the
Cuban national anthem.
The Italian journalist re
marks: “To see the love the
people have for Castro
brings out for me the dif
ference between him and
Mussolini. I was already a
man when Mussolini was in
power, so I remember. The
Italian people would never
have got out of bed at 5:30
in the morning to welcome
Mussolini back from a trip.”
Does he compare Castro
as a dictator in the mold of
Mussolini? “No,” he said.
“I mean, Mussolini only
cared for the rich. Castro is
a man of the common peo
ple. He is their hero, the
swashbuckling liberator.”
This is my last full day of
of a week in Cuba, and I re
member some talks with Cu
bans. One, a middle-aged
man named Vega, told me:
“Fidel came from a wealthy
family. His father was a
rich farmer in the province
of Oriente. But when Fidel
was in the university in 1953,
he organized the first attack
against the murderous Ba
tista government. He was
put on trial and did not back
down. ‘History will vindicate
me,’ he said.
"He was imprisoned for
two years. Then he organ
ized in Mexico another at
tempt. He came with 82 oth
ers on a little yacht and at
tacked the Moncada fortress.
It had 2,000 U.S.-trained sol
diers. All but 12 of Fidel’s
men were killed He gath
ered the remaining men
around him and said, ‘Vic
tory is ours.’ ” Vega laughed.
“Then they escaped into the
Sierra Maestra. Three years
later, after gaining popular
support, victory was ours.
(Note: Interviewee Vega's
"history" is fiction. Castro's
attack on Moncada was on
July 26, 1953. For it. he was
sentenced to death. Through
the intervention of the Cath
olic Archbishop (whom Cas
tro later exiled) Dr. Felipe
Salcines, rector of Santiago
University (whom he later
fired) and the local Lions
and Rotary Clubs in Santi
ago. his sentence was com
muted to 15 years. He served
two.
(He went to Mexico in
July, 1955, and recruits from
Cuba began to ar r ive by
February. 1956.
(He set sail from Mexico
for Cuba on Nov. 25, 1956,
with 82 men, to take part in
a bloody uprising in Santiago
Nov. 30. He arrived too late,
put ashore at Belie where
Batista troops hit them.
(The survivors—u sual ly
put at 11—then escaped into
the Sierra Maestra where
they lived off the frequently
sympathetic farmers. So
there was a lapse of more
than three years between
Moncada and life in the
Sierra Maestra.)
“There are still many prob
lems here. But if you want
to know whether Castro’s
Cuba works — you cannot
compare it to the United
States. You must compare
it to other Latin-American
countries. Cuba does not
have any more the poverty
and disease and illiteracy
and unemployment that
most other Latin-American
countries have. And what
Cuba had before Castro.”
A Cuban woman told me
of Castro’s earliest literacy
campaigns. In the moun
tains and on the farm s,
young Havana students
taught peasants to at least
write their names and read
labels on goods.
“Sure,” said an antirevo
lutionary named Pedro.
“More people began to read.
But read what? Books are
hard to get because of pro
duction problems, and when
you do get them, they only
give Communist versions.”
But generally I found
great support for Castro.
Much of it has to do with his
Kersonal charm, his courage,
is eccentricities.
“He was cutting cane next
to me once,” recalled a
young Cuban. “He was de
scribing the best way to
make yogurt, as he tossed
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Most Cuban children spend the day at child-care
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Che Guevara looms atop building in Havana. Gue
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Working women at a basket-making factory in Havana.
shuck after shuck of sugar
cane over his shoulder. Then
he went on about how to
make cheeses. Now, I know
he is trying to invent a lime
ice cream. He thinks he is
an expert on almost every
thing.”
Most sources in Cuba
agree that there is little in
ternal threat to Castro.
(Though a few years ago
poison was discovered in his
chocolate milk shake). But
fears of external attacks
continue. The Bay of Pigs
incident and the existence of
a U.S. military base at
Guantanamo Bay are con
tinuing threats to Cubans.
And in Castro’s 25-day trip,
now concluding, through
Chile and Peru, many here
feared for his life.”
And for most Cubans,
despite the scarcity of con
sumer goods, despite youths
on the street asking foreign
ers for "Chichlets” and bell
hops asking for a hard-to-ob
tain cigarette, life is better
than it was before the Revo
lution.
At the airport now. Several
thousand are here. Many
are military. The military is
pervasive: All high school
students must spend a few
weeks each summer in army
training; billboards extol
military life; more and
more, military men are tak
ing over important positions
in the ministries of, for ex
ample, education and econ
omics.
An expectant two-hour
wait. Then, a great roar as
a silver speck in the sky is
spotted. Castro’s plane. A
large Russian plane. It gets
closer. It is flanked in a
“V” by two MIGs on each
side. It lands. Fidel is the
first off the plane. Crowd
cheers. Hand-flags are
waved. Fidel in rumpled
fatigue uniform. One pants
leg bloused lower than the
other. He hugs his brother,
Raul. He pumps the hand
of other party functionaires.
His talk is animated. His
head bobs. He walks with a
friendly swagger. Soon, he
stands at attention for a
solemn 21-gun salute. Then
he greets a line of officials,
including stumpy, berib
boned Soviet officers, ad
visers in Cuba.
“Fee-del, Fee-del,” chants
the crowd.
Now the 45-year-old Prime
Minister comes to meet the
press. He first shakes the
hand of a buxom blonde re
porter from Mexico. He
comes closer to me, as he
shakes hands with others. He
is tall and broad. His nose is
long and flat, a tough appear
ance. The sun highlights
some gray hairs in his dark
beard. Now he is before me.
His brown eyes are warm
and liquidy. He extends his
hand. It is large but surpris
ingly soft. Not a rugged revo
lutionary’s hand.
He looks me right in the
eye. “Salud,” he says.
(NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN.)
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Although many new apartment buildings are being built (left), many Cubans still live in rough shacks (right).
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Page 7
Card of Thanks
We'd like to express a
heartfelt thanks to each one
who comforted us in the
recent loss of our husband
and father.
An expression of sincere
thanks is sent to each one
who contributed floral
offerings and food. All your
prayers, visits, and calls
were greatly appreciated.
We'd like also to thank the
doctors, nurses, and staff of
the Griffin Spalding County
Hospital, Pittman Rawls
Funeral Home, and the
public officials of Pike
County for your services
rendered.
May God bless each of you.
The Frank Scoggins Family
— Griffin Daily News Sat, and Sun., Jan. 29-30,1972
1
Mb
lb:• x■ <■<
Cuban kids are well
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aries and know that
they are “the future
of Cuba."
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Most of the cars on
Havana's streets are old—
and American. But,
most of the time, they
run. This one needed help.
CARD OF THANKS
Our heartfelt thanks to all
who extended comforting
sympathy and help in our
recent sorrow and loss of our
husband and father, Mr.
Aubrey Fallins. For the
beautiful service, floral
offerings. Also special
thanks to those who brought
food, to Dr. Landrum and
Dr. Reynolds, to the nurses
on duty in the emergency
room in the hospital, to the
Rev. C.E. Johnson, Rev.
E. Pruitt, and Rev. John
F. Moore. For all these
kindnesses we are deeply
grateful.
Wife: Mrs. Sarah Fallins
Children: Diane Griffin,
Dwayne Fallins, Birdie Lee
Stansell.
Sister: Mrs. Margie
Pritchett.