-DATE-
19920603
-YEAR-
1992
-DOCUMENT TYPE-
-AUTHOR-
-HEADLINE-
Castro Interviewed on Soviet Collapse, Stalin
-PLACE-
CARIBBEAN / Cuba
-SOURCE-
Managua EL NUEVO DIARIO
-REPORT NO.-
FBIS-LAT-92-109
-REPORT DATE-
19920605
-HEADER-
=======================================================================
Report Type: Daily
report
AFS Number: PA0506003892
Report Number: FBIS-LAT-92-109
Report Date: 05 Jun 92
Report Series: Daily Report
Start Page: 19
Report Division: CARIBBEAN
End Page: 21
Report Subdivision: Cuba
AG File Flag:
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Language: Spanish
Document Date: 03 Jun 92
Report Volume: Friday Vol VI No
109
Dissemination:
City/Source of Document: Managua EL NUEVO DIARIO
Report Name: Latin America
Headline: Castro Interviewed on Soviet Collapse, Stalin
Subheadline: Interview Continues
Author(s): Tomas Borge; place, date not given]
Source Line: PA0506003892 Managua EL NUEVO DIARIO in Spanish 3 Jun 92 p 4
Subslug: [Part II of an interview with Cuban President Fidel
Castro by Tomas
Borge; place, date not given]
-TEXT-
FULL TEXT OF ARTICLE:
1. [Part II of an interview with Cuban President Fidel Castro
by Tomas Borge;
place, date not given]
2. [Text] [Borge] Montesquieu said history is the noise surrounding
certain
events, but there are events that are simply not noise, like the collapse
of
the socialist countries and the survival of the Cuban revolution. Does
this at
mean you are going down in history?
3. [Castro] I would say the simple fact that we decided to keep
going forward
when the socialist bloc collapsed, and now that we have become the
only victim
of a vicious imperialist attack, is a significant event in history.
The mere
fact that Cuba has decided to keep going forward and face the dangers
and the
challenges following the collapse of the socialist bloc and the disappearance
of the USSR is a significant event in history.
4. Tomas, it is not a matter, however, of what we may have done
up until now
or of what we may be capable of withstanding from here on. I believe
it all
depends on what lies ahead because that will determine the real significance
of
what we are doing today.
5. [Borge] Undoubtedly you have much confidence in that, and I
share it. Does
that mean the Cuban revolution is the beginning of a resurrection of
a
socialist option at the world level?
6. [Castro] I believe we are defending certain principles that
are immensely,
extraordinarily valuable at a moment of confusion in the world. It
is a time
for opportunists, a time in which politicians are trying to accommodate
themselves, and we may say it is a time of apotheosis for imperialist
military
and political power.
7. Mankind has never before experienced such a reactionary expansion
and
empire building. That does not mean it will go on forever. That empire
is
corroded by all types of contradictions. We are living in the present
and I
believe that preserving our values is of great importance for all men
who want
the best for humanity. I believe and I have always believed that symbols
are of
great importance, flags are of great value. I believe that even if
we became a
lonely island, that would be of great value. If we were invaded and
were
capable of resisting until the end, that would have great value. If
we were
capable of prevailing, as we will undoubtedly prevail, because it would
be
impossible to exterminate millions of men determined to fight, that
would have
great value.
8. [Borge] You recently said, not referring to socialism in general
but to the
USSR in particular, that socialism had been assassinated, stabbed in
the back.
In this conspiracy of daggers that killed socialism, would you say
Gorbachev
was one of the assassins?
9. [Castro] No, I could not say that about Gorbachev because I
have another
view of Gorbachev and it is not one of an assassin who plotted the
USSR's
destruction.
10. The USSR self-destructed in an incredible way. The responsibility
for that
self-destruction undoubtedly lies in the hands of the country's leaders,
those
who led that nation. Now, some of them were aware they were destroying
it and
others were not. That is what I was trying to say, more or less, and
we saw it
all from the beginning.
11. I cannot say Gorbachev played a role in which he was aware
of the
destruction of the USSR because I have no doubt that Gorbachev intended
to
fight to improve socialism.
12. We approved of Soviet efforts to improve socialism in the
USSR. But we
could not approve of, and never would have agreed to, not only the
destruction
of socialism in the USSR, but also the destruction of the USSR itself.
That
inflicted terrible damage on all peoples of the world and created a
bad
situation for the Third World in particular.
13. Imperialism would have been able to disintegrate the Soviet
Union, had the
Soviets not destroyed themselves, had those responsible for the strategies
and
tactics and for the country's political and government policies not
destroyed
the country. In other words, socialism did not die from natural causes:
it was
a suicide, socialism was murdered. That is what I meant.
14. [Borge] Fidel, for most Latin American revolutionary leaders,
the current
crisis of socialism has a mastermind: Josef Stalin.
15. [Castro] I believe Stalin made big mistakes but also showed great wisdom.
16. In my opinion, blaming Stalin for everything that occurred
in the Soviet
Union would be historical simplism, because no man by himself could
have
created certain conditions. It would be the same as giving Stalin all
the
credit for what the USSR once was. That is impossible! I believe that
the
efforts of millions and millions of heroic people contributed to the
USSR's
development and to its relevant role in the world in favor of hundreds
of
millions of people.
17. I have criticized Stalin for a lot of things. First of all,
I criticized
his violation of the legal framework.
18. I believe Stalin committed an enormous abuse of power.
That is another
conviction I have always had.
19. I feel that Stalin's agricultural policy did not develop a
progressive
process to socialize land. In my opinion, the land socialization process
should
have begun earlier and should have been gradually implemented. Because
of its
violent implementation, it had a very high economic and human cost
in a very
brief period of history.
20. I also feel that Stalin's policy prior to the war was totally
erroneous.
No one can deny that western powers promoted Hitler until he became
a monster,
a real threat. The terrible weakness shown by western powers
before Hitler
cannot be denied. This at encouraged Hitler's expansionism and Stalin's
fear,
which led Stalin to do something I will criticize all my life, because
I
believe that it was a flagrant violation of principles: seek peace
with Hitler
at any cost, stalling for time.
21. During our revolutionary life, during the relatively long
history of the
Cuban Revolution, we have never negotiated a single principle to gain
time, or
to obtain any practical advantage. Stalin fell for the famous
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact at a time when Germans were already demanding
the
delivery of the Danzig Corridor.
22. I feel that, far from gaining time, the nonaggression pact
reduced time,
because the war broke out anyway. Then, in my opinion, he made another
big
mistake, because when Poland was being attacked, he sent troops to
occupy that
territory, which was disputed because it had a Ukrainian or Russian
population,
I am not sure.
23. I also believe that the little war against Finland was another
terrible
mistake, from the standpoint of principles and international law.
24. Stalin made a series of mistakes that were criticized by a
large part of
the world, and which placed Communists- who were great friends of the
USSR-in a
very difficult position by having to support each one of those episodes.
25. Since we are discussing this topic, I must tell you that I
have never
discussed it with any journalist (or on any other occasion, he added).
26. The things I mentioned are against principles and doctrine;
they are even
contrary to political wisdom. Although it is true that there
was a period of
one year and nine months from September 1939 to June 1941 during which
the USSR
could have rearmed itself, Hitler was the one who got stronger.
27. If Hitler had declared war on the USSR in 1939, the destruction
would have
been less than the destruction caused in 1941, and he would have suffered
the
same fate as Napoleon Bonaparte. With the people's participation in
an
irregular war, the USSR would have defeated Hitler.
28. Finally, Stalin's character, his terrible distrust of everything,
made him
commit several other mistakes: one of them was falling in the trap
of German
intrigue and conducting a terrible, bloody purge of the armed forces
and
practically beheading the Soviet Army on the eve of war.
29. [Borge] What do you believe were Stalin's merits?
30. [Castro] He established unity in the Soviet Union. He consolidated
what
Lenin had begun: party unity. He gave the international revolutionary
movement
a new impetus. The USSR's industrialization was one of Stalin's wisest
actions,
and I believe it was a determining factor in the USSR's capacity to
resist.
31. One of Stalin's-and the team that supported him- greatest
merits was the
plan to transfer the war industry and main strategic industries to
Siberia and
deep into Soviet territory.
32. I believe Stalin led the USSR well during the war. According
to many
generals, Zhukov and the most brilliant Soviet generals, Stalin played
an
important role in defending the USSR and in the war against Nazism.
They all
recognized it.
33. I think there should be an impartial analysis of Stalin.
Blaming him for
everything that happened would be historical simplism.
-END-
.