|
|
|
| Current Issue |
|
|
| Resources |
|
|
|
Who Is Fidel Castro?
| Article
# : |
18040 |
|
|
Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
|
| Issue
Date : |
5 / 1990 |
4,532 Words |
| Author
: |
Georgie Anne Geyer
Georgie Anne Geyer is a syndicated columnist whose columns on
international affairs appear in more than a hundred newspapers
in the United States and Latin America. Her most recent book
is Guerrilla Prince, a biography of Fidel Castro. |
In 1966, when I spent the summer in Cuba as a foreign correspondent for the old Chicago Daily News, I was able to conduct repeated interviews with Cuban President Fidel Castro. Each one was an experience. Then, I would have called them “unpredictable'' experiences.
My first interview with him began on a Saturday night, as was usual for him, at midnight. Then, I would have said that was because he was so frightfully busy. Actually, it is rather easy to interview Castro because you don't have to ask any questions - he starts talking and, about eight hours later, he stops talking.
At any rate, we were sitting in the lobby of the Havana Libre Hotel and he was moving systematically from subject to subject, while I listened. Then, suddenly, at 1:30 in the morning, he stopped talking. He looked at me very seriously and, not joking at all, said, "It's time to get the ice cream.''
I said something smart like, "Fine'.' Should I have said, ``Strawberry ripple, please?'' But I did have the idea that his comment had something to do with the huge Coppelia Ice Cream Parlor across the street.
Then he looked at me again, very seriously, and pronounced, "We now have twenty-eight flavors."
Again, right on the mark, I said, "Oh, that's very nice…" Which is what I say when I have no idea what is going on.
Now he looked at me again, still not joking, and he said, "That's more than Howard Johnson's has!''
To which again, right on the mark, I came in with, "Oh, that's very nice…."
Then he explained his little charade. "Before the Cuban Revolution,'' Castro said, "the Cuban people loved Howard Johnson's ice cream. This shows we can do everything better than you Americans!''
Now for a second story. A few weeks later, I was up in the countryside, at Banao, and Castro suddenly appeared. Then, I thought that was because he was everywhere. At lunch with about thirty of his military attachés in a big shed, Castro sat down very deliberately in the seat directly across from me. Almost as soon as we began eating, I realized he had done this because he was using me - the American
...
Read Full Article
Look for this article in Ask.com
|
|
