FIDEL: FANATIC, FAKER - OR FOREVER ?

The Stocken (CA) Record - Vintage section

(Published Tuesday, Oct 3, 2006)

'Fanatic or Faker, Fidel has Lung Power."

That was the headline on the Sept. 10, 1960, Los Angeles Mirror story I wrote after listening and watching Fidel Castro, dictator of Cuba, rave on for 41/2 hours on the rostrum of the U.N. General Assembly.I

t was an awesome meeting of world leaders.Adding to the spectacle, Castro's words came over my headphones from the voice of a female U.N. interpreter. With four years of Spanish classes from my high school and college days, I frequently took off the headphones to watch Fidel rant on in his native language.Nearly half a century later as I write this, Castro is recovering from surgery after a near-death illness.

Today, while most democracies still regard him as a fanatic, "faker" might better be translated as an effective political performer. His 47-year tenure, uninterrupted until now, apparently exceeds most heads of state except for the reigns of England's queen and Thailand's king.

But on that U.N. rostrum, "the bearded revolutionary took on the aspect of a man who is convinced he has sole access to truth," I reported."There are no shades of gray in his world. The United States is the devil, the Soviet Union is the great father."

And on the floor of delegates was his father figure, Nikita Khrushchev, beaming on his boy and cueing his comrades when to applaud, when to stop applauding, when to rise for an ovation and when to sit down.

Oddly, for the first 25 minutes, Castro complained about his hotel accommodations in Harlem and the envelope of security that surrounded him. I agreed. I had tried unsuccessfully to reach his room in the Theresa, often dubbed the Waldorf of Harlem.While other reporters tried the elevator, I struggled up the stairs one floor short of Castro's room before being halted by his security guards. I didn't get to confirm the rumor that Castro's aides had brought live chickens into the food pantry.

Protesters, shouting on the streets below, not only talked with me, but at one stage proposed mysteriously to take me along with the expatriates sneaking back into Cuba, trying to overthrow the regime. I wasn't about to do that, but I submitted to being blindfolded for a trip to their "hangout."

Thank you, I didn't want to be embedded in a regime-change effort.

Castro's dodging of the mainstream press contrasted with Khrushchev's welcome to us outside the Soviet consulate, where he was staying. It reminded me of the train ride to San Francisco from Los Angeles that many of us had made a year earlier after Khruschev had been rebuffed by Los Angeles' then-Mayor Norris Poulson and police Chief William H. Parker's refusal to provide security so he could go to Disneyland.

While the U.S. had recognized the Soviet Union and China as nations, its refusal to offer the same to communist Cuba leaves doubt whether old Fidel will live to see that day.

Contact Paul Weeks at rand9999@aol.com