◆ SpookStack

340 CASTRO'S NETWORK IN THE UNITED STATES honestly. I told Dr. Castro in my letter that I would Ifke to interview him with a tape recorder and I assured him that no deletions or censorship of his words would take place. ~ Fidel’s executive secretary, Dr. Juan a, replied that if I came to Cuba he would do everything he could to insure the fhterview. (Orta has since defected.) This was invitation enough. There was no “guarantee” of an interview but the indications were that I would have one. ot . Interview or not, Mary Louise (my wife) and I decided to go to Cuba to see for ourselves. I was curious about the Cuban Revolution and puzzled by some of the inconsistencies in the dally newspapers. One week before our departure, we learned that the Fair Play for Cuba Com- mittee would hold its first public meeting at the Community Church in Manhat- tan on Sunday, April 24. ef! We decided to attend. 2 le The hall was packed. Waldo nk was the main speaker and he described a recent visit to Cuba in which he eled through the island with Fidel. His description was in sharp contrast to the picturesque tales of “bloody tyranny” that were described in newspapers in the United States. We arrived in Cuba late Friday evening on the May Day weekend. The execu- tive offices were closed and they vere closed on Saturday also. Without credentials, unable tof contact anyone in government and speaking no more than six words of Spanish] I was nevertheless able to bluff our way onto the podium at the May Day ce tion, Wo There, a few feet from Raul“Qastro, not many yards from Fidel Castro and facing a half a million or more ie, we observed the May Day celebration for ten hours. We were carrying a movie camera in a case that could have contained guns and/or grenades (but contained a camera) and we were not questioned. The lack of security was appalling. REMAINED LONGER THAN PLANNED I had planned to remain in Cuba for four days: I remained thirteen. The report of that first visit appeared in a double-size issue (No. 100) of the Independent in June, 1960. A statement preceded the article and, for the benefit of new subscribers, it is reprinted here. (Despite a larger than normal printing of the issue, the supply was very quickly exhausted.) ~ The statement said: “The story you are about to read is biased. I have just spent thirteen days in Cuba to view.the Cuban revolution for the readers of the Independent. “I went to Cuba with many reservations. Like most Americans, I had been subjected to a blitzkrieg of anti-Cuban stories and articles in the press. I went to Cuba to see for myself. “I found that many of the stories in the American newspapers were and are totally false. I found that others have so little truth in them that the truth fragments are like small specks in a large storm cloud. “I went to Cuba with many reservations. I still have some reservations, But my unrestricted observations have given me an abiding respect and admira- tion for the Cuban people and a tremendous enthusiasm for their revolution. “The story you are about to read is, therefore, biased. Understand that fact when you read it. As with all material which appears in the Independent—an attempt is made to present the full picture, including contrary views. But, in fairness to yourself, you should know that I have seen the revolution and I am ‘or it.” On or abont the tenth day of my visit, I decided to Join the Fair Play for Cuba. Committee. I mailed my check and application form from Havana. EXCELLENT FILMS We had some excellent films of what we'd seen and some vivid memories. But within two months of reading the more responsible newspapers, we found ourselves again conditioned to believe that a terrible tyranny existed in Cuba— that things must have changed since our visit.