Fidel Castro Back in the News

HAVANA TIMES – While President Raul Castro is off to attend a summit of CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Fidel Castro is back in the news on the island having met on Tuesday in Havana with the Brazilian author and liberation theologist Frei Betto.

The official press did not release any photographs of Fidel with Frei Betto and did not go into any details about their discussions “on national and international topics,” noting that Betto talked about a meeting he held earlier in the year with Pope Francis.

Resurfacing after a prolonged silence, Castro chimed in on Monday with a letter containing his comments on the accords between his brother President Raul Castro and US President Obama annuonced on December 17th simultaneously in Havana and Washington D.C.

Taking a back seat, he said he was not involved in any of the negotiations and that he harbors distrust of the United States government.  He also acknowledged the authority of Raul Castro to carry out the negotiations in the search for peace with the enemy.

“Many friends of Cuba know of the Cuban people’s exemplary conduct, and I will explain to them, in a few words, my essential position,” wrote Fidel Castro.

“I do not trust the policy of the United States, nor have I exchanged one word with them, though this does not in any way signify a rejection of a peaceful solution to conflicts or threats of war. Defending peace is the duty of all. Any negotiated, peaceful solution to the problems between the United States and peoples, or any people of Latin America, which does not imply force or the use of force, must be addressed in accordance with international principles and norms,” he noted.