Castro Demands Reparations From The United States
By Jim Burns
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
March 11, 2002

(CNSNews.com) - Cuban leader Fidel Castro says the United States owes Cuba reparations and an apology for "more than 40 years of terror" directed at the communist nation. Castro made the remarks on Saturday, in a speech carried by Radio Havana.

Castro said the United States government will never have "moral integrity in its so-called war on terrorism" as long as it doesn't renounce terrorism against Cuba.

Castro described the U.S. war on terrorism as "prolonged, undefined and imprecise...the epitome of arrogance." He said it was cynical of the United States to list Cuba among the top ten terrorist nations when "thousands of Cubans have died as a result of terrorist actions launched by the United States."

Castro did not define what those terrorist actions were. On the other hand, he said, "No American citizen has even suffered a scratch from terrorist actions originating in Cuba."

Castro believes any U.S. apology to Cuba should include "repentance" for the economic and trade embargo against the communist nation, which has deprived the Cuban people of food and medicine, he said.

President Bush has said that the trade and economic embargo against Cuba will not be lifted until Castro frees all political prisoners and conducts free and fair elections.

Castro said the U.S. government should go beyond an apology, also providing financial compensation for "crimes" against the Cuban people.

In a shot at the Cuban-American community, Castro alleged that "Miami's terrorist mafia groups have organized and financed brutal attacks" against Cuba. He also called on Congress to eliminate the Torricelli and Helms-Burton acts and eliminate the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1965 because, he said, "it gives illegal Cuban immigrants exclusive privileges."

For the first time, Castro criticized the United States for imprisoning Taliban and al Qaeda detainees at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Castro said the United States should negotiate with Cuba over "the illegal and arbitrary U.S. occupation of the Guantanamo Naval Base."

In January, the Castro government complained about the "illegal U.S. occupation" of the Guantanamo base, but it agreed not to make a big issue out of it.

In that January statement, the Cuban government said the U.S. presence on Guantanamo is a "bizarre and potentially dangerous problem" between the two countries. The Cuban government called on the U.S. to return to base to Cuba. "It should be returned to Cuba because it is a portion of its national territory," the Castro government said in a statement.

The Guantanamo Base covers about 45 square miles and there are presently about 2,900 military personnel, civilian employees and dependents there. The base was ceded to the United States in 1903, following the Spanish-American war.

E-mail a news tip to Jim Burns.

Send a Letter to the Editor about this article.