July 8, 1963
Cable from Dutch Embassy, Havana (Boissevain), 8 July 1963
This document was made possible with support from Leon Levy Foundation
DATE OF DISPATCH: 8 July 1963
FROM: Havana
ORIGINAL INITIALED BY: GWB
TO: NERECODI [Dutch Government Code Service, The Hague]
TOP SECRET
Yesterday in [the] seaside resort Varadero Fidel Castro told my spouse [I had stayed in Havana with [a] severe cold] he [is] convinced ideals must sometimes [be] tested against reality; he feels obliged [to] pursue agreement with US yet would like [to] use me as middle man. Since Fidel, after clear language from my side, cannot harbor illusions regarding my feelings I personally am willing but of course only if mandated by You. For now [I] await demarche from Cuban side and Your instructions. As Fidel requested to communicate regarding this matter not with BB [Buitenlandse Betrekkingen, i.e., (Minister of) Foreign Relations Raúl Roa] but with doctor [Rene] Vallejo1 I consider, given the man’s mentality, personal action without prior knowledge [of] P.U.R.S.C. [the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution] possible. Since Fidel currently probably expects some initiative from me quod non2 please respond expediently
BOISSEVAIN 33
1Rene Castro Vallejo was Castro’s physician and aide at the time - ed.
2 A Latin phrase meaning “which is not the case,” i.e., Boussevain did not plan to take an initiative to contact Castro to pursue the mediation idea, at least not without instructions - ed.
Boissevain writes of a conversation Fidel Castro had with his wife, namely about how some ideals cannot translate into reality. Castro is interested in pursuing an agreement of some kind with the United States, and seeks to use Boissevain as the middle man. Boissevain is hesitant about any kind of deal with Castro, and asks for instructions on how to proceed.
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