Twice Around the World

For days, Fidel Castro had been promising Cubans a big surprise on the July 26th anniversary of his unsuccessful 1953 attack on Dictator Fulgencio Batista's regime. The great day came and went. No surprise. Said Castro, in his best who--me? manner: "The revolution does not have to await a date; revolution is a process." Apparently he had decided, perhaps on Moscow's advice, to go slower in proclaiming the next step in Communizing the country. The only real surprise of the week was the hijacked Eastern Air Lines Electra that landed unexpectedly (the Cubans seemed as surprised as the passengers) at Havana's Jose Marti Airport. Just as unexpected was a cloudburst that accompanied the star visitor, Soviet Spaceman Yuri Gagarin, into Cuba. The rain soaked Gagarin, ruined his beautiful white uniform, and left the militia road guard standing unhappily at attention knee-deep in water.

The rest went off with Communist clockwork, as in any Red capital on any Red anniversary. There stood Gagarin, the pocket-sized Soviet hero, on the reviewing stand with Castro, who towers over him. There, below, were the cheering masses, the enormous pictures of Lenin and Khrushchev. The expected display of half a dozen Soviet MIG-17 jets thundered overhead on schedule. There was even a seven-hour gymkhana in Civic Square by 70,000 massed "athletes."

The purely Castro touch was the bearded dictator's speech--it lasted four hours, counting a 23-minute break. At one point, Castro turned to Visitor Gagarin. "While I talk, you can go twice around the world." Said the weary spaceman, checking his watch: "Only one and a half times." Answered Castro, returning happily to the microphone: "That means I've still got half a world to go."

Aside from an automatic attack on the "brutish imperialist beasts" of the U.S. Senate, Castro displayed uncharacteristic restraint. He announced that Cuba would "soon" become a one-party state (which it is in practice), but added that "true socialism" could not be achieved for a few years. He said that he had no intention of halting the flood of exiles ("those worms and parasites") leaving the new socialism, but held out a carrot to what remains of Cuba's middle class by promising small businessmen that the change would be gradual, even voluntary. "A socialist society is not reached in 24 hours."

Watching the disturbing show, the governments of Venezuela and Colombia spoke out in alarm against the advance of Communism, and Guatemala urged the OAS to take action. Mexico's President Adolfo Lopez Mateos quietly ordered left-wing ex-President Lazaro Cardenas to refuse an invitation to the celebrations in Havana, and approved a speech by right-wing ex-President Abelardo Rodriguez, who said: "We must never permit ourselves to be dominated by outside powers or seduced by Utopian doctrines. Unfortunately, this has already occurred in the hemisphere of liberty."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.