Negotiating with Fidel Castro
AMOEDO, JULIO A.
A FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT Negotiating with Fidel Castro By Julio A. Amoedo Mexico City Though I have kept the negotiations in which I was a protagonist secret for four years, the fact that...
...Castro, Che Guevara, the entire Cuban Cabinet and the country's most prominent Communist leaders...
...From that moment on, the Castro regime virtually paralyzed the negotiations with various excuses and evasions which were designed to gain time until the Cuban-Soviet pact was signed on February 13...
...But President Osvaldo Dorticós declared him persona non grata...
...On February 29, the U.S...
...government would continue to bring to the attention of the Cuban government any instances in which the rights of U.S...
...Castro was out of town...
...that U.S...
...It said that the Revolutionary government wished to declare, nevertheless, that the renewal and subsequent development of these negotiations are subject to the condition that neither the U.S...
...that this position had frequently been stated and reflected a real understanding of and sympathy with the ideals and aspirations of the Cuban people...
...was accused of sabotage, and a new campaign of insults against the U.S...
...government...
...Ambassador Philip Bonsai was in Washington, supposedly on leave...
...He added that the Cuban people wished to maintain and tighten diplomatic and economic relations between the two countries, and felt that on these bases the traditional friendship between the peoples of Cuba and the U.S...
...be stopped...
...He declared that the U.S...
...Before leaving, I made clear to Dr...
...government consistently endeavored to prevent illegal acts, in territory under its jurisdiction, directed against other governments...
...law-enforcement agencies had been increasingly successful in the prevention of such acts...
...After midnight, however, one of Castro's assistants informed me that he had returned to Havana and was expecting me in the house of Celia Sanchez...
...Daniel M. Braddock, Minister Counselor and charge d'affaires ad interim of the United States, read the U.S...
...Raul Roa, delivered a note stating that the Revolutionary government wished to renew diplomatic negotiations with the U.S...
...The Castro government proceeded to occupy 70,000 acres of land and to seize other property belonging to United States citizens...
...He then read me the papers he held in his hand, which turned out to be the editorial that would be published in the next edition of Revolution...
...In the event that I met with a favorable reception, I was to tell Dr...
...As of that moment, all attacks ceased...
...He agreed that differences with the U.S...
...The U.S...
...In this editorial the conciliatory message of President Eisenhower was categorically and brutally rejected, and grave charges against the U.S...
...was undertaken...
...Without losing any time, I undertook the difficult task of locating the Cuban Premier...
...should be discussed and told me that President Dorticós would make a statement to that effect...
...He indicated that his government was most willing to resolve its differences with the Castro government, and that the Eisenhower declaration provided an opportunity to initiate mediation...
...Castro that my mediation was personal, and that I would immediately communicate it to my government...
...Castro made a violent attack against both the U.S...
...declaration to me during a visit...
...At the end of an hour's discussion, Dr...
...When I saw that it was useless to continue arguing, I rose and we parted...
...Accompanied by Hugo Urtubey, the Embassy attaché, I left immediately for the appointment...
...were already not especially cordial...
...government answered the Roa note, saying that it was disposed to negotiate its differences with Cuba but could not accept the condition imposed...
...When I arrived, I found Dr...
...Ambassador Bonsai returned to Havana and, on January 10, delivered a protest to the Cuban Chancellery against this confiscation of lands and buildings belonging to U.S...
...and 3.) that the U.S...
...The insincerity of the Castro regime is evident in the Roa statement of February 22, with its impossible condition...
...Castro made his alliance on his own...
...and Cuba could be resolved by diplomatic negotiations as long as these were carried out with mutual respect...
...Indeed, he invited me to return to the theme of our discussion and said there was nothing to lose by hearing what the Yankees want...
...The Cuban government rejected the note on the night of January 20...
...citizens without court orders and frequently without written orders of any kind—seizures that included equipment, cattle and cutting timber, all taken over without the consent of their American owners...
...In my opinion, the Castro regime accepted my efforts at mediation as a dilatory tactic to diminish tension between Cuba and the U.S...
...and called the newspaper to order that the editorial not be published and that all attacks against the U.S...
...The mediation had ended...
...At the beginning of 1960, relations between Cuba and the U.S...
...in the speeches of Castro and Dorticós, and in press and radio editorials in the week following the Eisenhower declaration...
...Castro agreed to suspend the campaign against the U.S...
...government of course recognized the right of the Cuban government and people, in the exercise of their national sovereignty, to undertake those social, economic and political reforms which, with due regard for their obligations under international law, they may think desirable...
...After the usual greetings, I thanked him for the speed with which he had granted me the interview and stated the concrete motives for my visit...
...and Spain, accusing them of helping counter-revolutionaries...
...Just as I was leaving, however...
...On February 4, the Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union, Anastas I. Mikoyan, arrived in Havana...
...The Spanish Ambassador, Juan Pablo de Lojendio, went to the television broadcasting studios, interrupted Castro and sought to reply...
...On February 22, the Foreign Minister, Dr...
...My efforts proceeded satisfactorily until the arrival of Mikoyan...
...Castro detained me...
...In the next few days, the newspaper Revolution published bitter attacks against President Eisenhower, Ambassador Bonsai and the U.S...
...On January 26, President Eisenhower delivered a highly conciliatory statement on Cuba...
...His reaction was entirely negative...
...2.) that Dr...
...When I finally succeeded in reaching Celia Sanchez, one of Castro's closest associates, I was told that Dr...
...Castro's state of mind...
...were made...
...The next day the Soviet exhibition was opened, and Mikoyan and Castro left for a tour of the interior of the island...
...through diplomatic channels...
...It was as though he had just changed his mind...
...On March 4, the French vessel La Coubre exploded in Havana Harbor...
...government nor Congress adopt any unilateral measures that might prejudice the negotiations or cause damage to the people or economy of Cuba...
...Roa's note, however, added a condition that had not been included in the original proposal by President Dorticós...
...Castro, and of the traditional Argentine policy of mediating differences between American states, he asked me to initiate such a mediation as rapidly as possible and to determine Dr...
...government was disposed to assist the Castro regime in the financing of the agrarian reform, as well as other economic and social matters...
...that the U.S...
...A FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT Negotiating with Fidel Castro By Julio A. Amoedo Mexico City Though I have kept the negotiations in which I was a protagonist secret for four years, the fact that these have now become a matter of public debate leads me to make public the following account...
...The New York Times, in its editorial of February 1, noted the "extraordinary" absence of attacks against the U.S...
...On February 13, Cuba and the Soviet Union signed a fiveyear commercial treaty...
...government adhered strictly to the policy of nonintervention in the domestic affairs of other countries, including Cuba...
...Castro should receive Ambassador Bonsai on his return from the U.S...
...Actually, he had been called home for consultations with the State Department on January 6, 1960...
...should cease...
...Castro lying down, reading some papers...
...The next day President Dorticós declared from the Presidential Palace that differences between the U.S...
...that the U.S...
...Castro that the bases for understanding would be the following: 1.) that the campaign of insults against the U.S...
...and that the U.S...
...caused Cuba to seek shelter with the Soviet Union are totally false...
...He had been officially invited by the Cuban government and was received by President Dorticós, Dr...
...Braddock's house to communicate to him the favorable result of my mediation...
...Knowing of my personal relations with both Ambassador Bonsai and Dr...
...citizens, under Cuban and international law, had been disregarded...
...More important, it is evident from the above that arguments to the effect that the incomprehension and hostility of the U.S...
...while awaiting Mikoyan's arrival...
...with a view to concretizing the manner in which existing differences would be resolved...
...was indestructible...
...My interview with Castro had lasted four hours, and without any delay I went to Mr...
...The next day Secretary of State Christian Herter referred to Castro's broadcast as the most insulting speech ever delivered by the Cuban leader, and ordered Ambassador Bonsai's return to Washington...
...The same afternoon, Mr...
Vol. 47 • April 1964 • No. 9
