March 4, 1964
From the Diary of A. I. Alekseyev, Record of Conversations with Individual Cuban leaders about Fidel Castro’s Visit to the USSR, 8 February 1964
This document was made possible with support from Leon Levy Foundation
[Stamp]: Declassified
from the diary of
A. I. Alekseyev
Secret Copy No 2
4 March 1964
No 66
RECORD OF CONVERSATIONS
with individual Cuban leaders about Fidel Castro’s visit to the USSR
8 February 1964
Fidel Castro’s visit to the Soviet Union has found a warm response among the Cuban people. Moreover materials have begun to appear in the Cuban press about the USSR. And Cubans associate all the recent successes with the results of this visit.
F. Castro remained satisfied with his visit to the Soviet Union, the meetings with the Soviet government and people, and the especially warm friendly reception accorded him personally by N. S. Khrushchev. He has been talking about his visit in all recent speeches.
The Cuban comrades note that recently there is very little material about Cuba in the Chinese press. The name of F. Castro is not mentioned. For their part, the Cubans are reducing the publication of materials about China and devoting even more attention to the USSR.
1. R. Castro and R. Roa in their conversations with me expressed dissatisfaction that the Chinese press is silent about F. Castro’s visit to the USSR and also about the detention by the United States of 4 fishing vessels in international waters. This silence, said Roa, is similar to when the Chinese were silent during the October Crisis and only after it was over pounced with attacks on the USSR.
2. Flavio Bravo reports that on F. Castro’s return from the USSR he reported to the National Leadership on the results of his visit, speaking highly of the USSR’s foreign policy and the understanding by Soviet leaders of the problems confronting Cuba, and the unselfish aid to Cuba from the Soviet Union. The publication of the long-term agreement and the Soviet-Cuban announcement, he said, has strongly reinforced the USSR’s position in Cuba and impeded the work of dissident pro-Chinese elements.
3. Ernesto Guevara spoke highly about F. Castro’s visit to the Soviet Union, approving the sugar agreement which, in his words, provides an opportunity to draw up realistic plans for lifting the Cuban economy, including industry. Guevara spoke more favorably about our proposal not to force the tempo of construction of the metal-works, regarding the idea of developing a chemical industry in Cuba favorably. He is more friendly to us than earlier, but continues to maintain his point of view in the question of accelerating the revolutionary process in Latin American countries.
USSR Ambassador to Cuba
[signature]
A. Alekseyev
[Handwritten note at the bottom of the first page]: “To the archive. The material is informative; used for a dossier. Desk officer of a CC CPSU sector. A. Kalinin. 30.3.64.“ [Other illegible signatures are to the left]
[Distribution:]
4-lsh
1-OLAS
2-CC CPSU (to Cde. Andropov)
3-UVI
4-to file
No. 82
2.3.64
USSR Ambassador to Cuba, A.I. Alekseyev, briefly reports about Fidel Castro's recent visit to the Soviet Union, which is viewed by most as a success. Alekseyev also mentions several conversations with other Cuban leaders about Castro's visit.
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