SECRET

Before U.N. - C.R., 15 May 1961

Castro referred to the U.S. President's recent press conference. Castro not only saw no results in these talks, but saw the things which the U.S.A. is now putting into effect.

Two of the American guests in the audience, an economist and an editor, asked Castro whether it might not be possible that the U.S. Government was using him as an excuse to carry on a policy of no public connections with the U.S.S.R. and that he bore in mind the need to keep public connections with the Cuban case, naturally, without this being in any way harmful. He immediately replied that he could not permit this because he did not know U.S. policy plans in this respect, but that naturally, if this were something it was certain he would not lend himself to such maneuvers.

Castro continued reading general considerations about the Cuban military might, and he insisted that as the 7th column, or the world in the aspect of military power. He continued with a comparison between the men who were up against Castro and the Cuban Government, and the story of the giant Goliath represented by Castro and the boy David represented by the Cubans engaging in war activities against Castro. Castro's program closed by saying that war is the only way of uniting all Cubans and he mentioned that that union had already been achieved at the Bay of Pigs where the blood of Cubans from all ideologies and social classes was mixed.

When he was questioned about the information appearing in different news media about new revolutionary movements being in Cuba fighting, he said "May God be with them but we shall never accept any Government of the extreme right, and much less of the extreme left, and in that case we shall continue fighting with the state in our hand." When he finished saying this the audience broke into a thunder of ovation.

The event ended with disguised precipitation because there were rumors in the conference room that Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz would arrive to cast aspersions about his past with Castro with the intention of ridiculing him. (Incidentally, press gathering usually end at 6:00 PM and this one ended at 5:30 PM.) And in effect, Diaz Lanz arrived at 5:10 PM but the event was already over. Even ANCO President's event was SECRET.