"In February 2002, an independent unit interviewed Fidel Castro." "He was offered the power to cut and erase at any time." "Over the course of 3 days and nights Mr. Castro never chose to cut." "What follows is culled from 30 hours of conversation." "First films of Cuban rebel leader Fidel Castro." "Castro's plan of action to fight by any means until the Batista regime is toppled." "Behind Batista stand the army, the police and, apparently, Cuba's labor unions." "Batista seemed upset about reports in the American press of police brutality and corruption but confident in the face of an unpredictable future." "This is the band that for 16 months has held out in the rugged Sierra Maestre mountains near the island's eastern tip." "Ill-supplied, they make many of their weapons in crude jungle workshops." "The ragged, underfed, poorly-armed rebels cut off communications and supply lines in a campaign of sniping and sabotage." "Castro himself has become a figure of legend since he invaded Oriente province from a small boat." "It is an unequal battle of idealists against tough professional forces." "Says Castro, "If I lose, PH start over again." "If Batista loses, he loses for good."" "JANUARY 1959, HAVANA, CUBA" "Tyranny has been vanquished." "The joy is overwhelming." "Nevertheless, there is still much to do." "Our political philosophy is representative democracy and social justice in a well-planned" "ECONOMY." "The Cuban revolution." "It was a small island, a small revolution." "But it goes through time." "There is a discrepancy..." "A small island, a big revolution." "If today you had not succeeded, would you be on a soapbox now in the park, talking about revolution?" "No, I would be dead." "When we have fulfilled our promise of a new government," "I will cut my beard." "Let me take a closer look at myself." "If I get close..." "Let me see where it looks best." "You guys should do what your boss says." "And me too." "PALACE OF THE REVOLUTION, HAVANA, CUBA" "At any point, if he says "Cut" or I say "Cut"" "or we both say "Cut"..." "either one, you stop and we'll talk." "Maybe he wants to go again, like an actor." "He gets a second take and let's go again." "This is an acting exercise that he will fail." "And after that we'll go into a completely spontaneous mode." "Okay, action." "Commander, it's late but you need to sign these." "What are you saying?" "I can sign just a few." "With just a few we'll move ahead." "What's the longest he's written recently?" "The longest things I've written recently are speeches for T.V." "You don't write poetry?" "No, but when I write, I like the words to have a certain harmony." "I like combining words so there's a cadence, a rhythm, when I write them down." "I could produce so much more by talking." "Who knows the thousands of episodes, anecdotes, I've told." "How much of your day is spent on administrative, how much on creative and how much of your day is spent on physical maintenance?" "The least possible on administrative matters." "The most on speaking with comrades, discussing different issues." "Is that creative?" "Yes, because we find solutions to problems." "One should... gather information." "Get to know problems." "And try to find solutions." " There are all kinds of problems." "What about maintenance?" "I don't waste any time shaving." "I once calculated... the meaning... that I saved months of my life that way..." "Assuming it takes 15 minutes to shave." "When I was... a young man..." "I spent a lot of time on sports." "The pleasure of sport." "Nowadays, the maintenance I do is to stay healthy." "This office is my track." "I measure the number of steps." "Can you show us a circle?" "Right away." "First," "I look at my watch..." "I check my pulse." "Then..." "I start walking." "He counts his steps..." "it's like a prisoner a bit." "I've no other choice." "I'm a prisoner." "When I come in here..." "this is a cell." "When he gets bad news, how does he take it?" "Good news..." "I receive calmly, even though it makes me happy." "That's for sure." "As for bad news," "I'm used to that." "Doesn't it hurt the same?" "Some news is harder to take." "For example, one day..." "I remember when I received the news of my mother's death," "I felt very deep pain." "And when Che died." "(1928-1967) Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Commander of the Cuban Revolution, killed in Bolivia." "There are moments of grief... not only about news but also about events" "you are involved in." "He must have been frustrated in the Elian Gonzalez in Miami affair." "Well, that was the first time we claimed someone." "Illegal actions have happened all the time." "We committed ourselves to a fight to win a battle that was not juridical... but political." "I had a special feeling then." "When we first received the father's request to claim his son," "I saw that from the legal point of view we would never get support." "But first I needed to know what the father was like." "Because to take on a battle like that," "I needed justification." "Eight times the couple tried to have a baby." "It was their eighth attempt." "They cried..." "I felt so sorry for them." "And I realized... the cause was just, that every effort should be made." "And I was not wrong." "I know that you don't use psychiatrists very much." "In all the grief he's had in his life, has he ever felt that he wanted to talk to a psychiatrist?" "That's never crossed my mind." " Never crossed your mind?" "Never." "Perhaps it's something to do with self-confidence." "Quite honestly, I've never been asked that." "Oliver... perhaps it's because ever since I was a child" "I had to solve important problems by myself." "I was sent to Santiago de Cuba when I was 5 or 6 years old." "That was my first hard experience." "I got used to solving my own problems." "So he said he became strong in his head and his heart because his mother abandoned him?" "No, she was my ally, when I demanded to be sent to boarding school." "My father owned a lot of land." "That was their livelihood." "But I demanded to be sent there." "In the strongest possible terms." "When I was in my second year at university," "I joined an expedition to overthrow" "Trujillo in Santo Domingo." "Was he willing to die at this age?" "Yes." "Was he tortured?" "They wanted to torture me." "But I was never tortured..." "After he was arrested, why didn't Batista shoot him?" "He knew he was a leader." "He knew we didn't have a penny, nor any resources." "They underestimated..." "They underestimated us." "Do you believe in destiny or fate?" "I do not believe in destiny." "To paraphrase" "Napoleon, "The moment my destiny is over, I can be broken by a puff of wind or a match." What does he think?" "I do not think like that." "If I thought like that, it would appear as if I had arrived at the end of my destiny." "But we have never given up our fight." "Not for one second." "And the day" "I die, whatever the reason," "I would not think... that it was destiny... that ended my work." "I would think that even after my death..." "I believe today... in the future of Cuba, in the future of our cause." "And perhaps that is the test." "Why Hemingway?" "He was a winner for Fidel?" "Yes, I admire Hemingway very much." "But Hemingway blew his brains out." "According to his philosophy." "If he were Salvador Allende and they were closing in on his palace, would he commit suicide?" "I would fight to the death." "And if the situation were such that my gun stopped working or I didn't have..." "Yes, my decision would be to die." "There's no doubt in my mind." "At that moment did he believe in God?" "I have never been a believer." "Simply... because the methods used in school to persuade me" "regarding religion were dogmatic methods." "So this is one life and it's over?" "I am totally convinced of that." "Which version of your life would you like to see for the closing chapter?" "Version one..." "You're a grandfather, many children... the benevolent patriarch," "loved by the people, you die in bed... it's a great life." "Or... the new world order happens, they throw Fidel in chains." "With billions of people watching, you give the most eloquent defense of human rights and dignity... ever heard." "What would you do?" "Version one or version two?" "Neither." "I always try to be as rational as possible in my thinking." "I have an idea of how relative glory can be." "Look..." "Jose Marti expressed it in a phrase." ""All the glory in the world fits in a grain of corn."" "I have never thought about glory... never given a thought to how I want to be remembered." "History is relative." "Mankind could become extinct... the sun could die out..." "So what is... fame and celebrity worth?" "One day, none of that will exist." "Is the 21st century going to be about the new world order or not?" "If it is not attained relatively soon, then... our species will vanish." "We cannot go on destroying the environment and keep on wasting" "Ol-ll" natural resources and destroying man's living conditions." "There's no need even for mathematics there." "Simple arithmetics would show that either present problems must be solved or mankind will not be able to survive the new century we are beginning." "I am inclined to believe that rationality will prevail" "and mankind will survive." "But in a short period of time... within 40 or 50 years, there will be almost 10 billion people on earth..." "It would not be worthwhile living on the planet" "we are being left with." "Fidel doesn't believe that the war on drugs will ever be licked, does he?" "I think society is defenseless against drugs." "We have managed to protect ourselves... from drugs entering." "We have reduced drug abuse to a minimum." "Cuba has one of the lowest rates of drug abuse..." "I think that natural drugs will soon be replaced by artificial ones," "much cheaper to manufacture, like ecstasy." "Is revolution possible against the new world order?" "A change." "Let's call it a "change."" "The present order, to my mind, is unsustainable." "Would he like to see McDonald's here in Havana?" "Number one..." "The Cuban Electric Company." "Number twenty-four..." "The United Fruit Company." "I have been critical..." "But it would be more justified than in India." "It is an example... of the tendency towards a homogeneous culture" "and the destruction of cultural identity." "One culture emanating from the one nation that has power and the monopoly of the media." "It was perfectly well-planned." "And it': a perfectly well-known story." "For many years now the imperialists, when they realized that one day the colonies would be liberated, started organizing their movements." "Cabinda province is rich with oil." "That is one of the reasons why the imperialists want to take over Angola." "So they organized the F.L.N.A., using people from the CIA." "Some imperialists ask why the Cubans help the Angolans... what our interests there are." "They think that when a country acts it is only for oil, copper, diamonds or other natural resources." "No." "Our interests are not materialistic." "And the imperialists obviously can't understand that." "Their criteria is based solely on chauvinistic, nationalistic, selfish reasons." "We are carrying out an internationalist duty in helping the people of Angola." "That is a nice one." "We have about 120 paintings." "We did not go to the museum..." "This one, look what this man did." "Portocarrero." "That's the city, isn't it?" "He paints that a lot." "The swamp... this is the mainland." "The swamp." "So what do you watch here?" "Very little lately." "I have not been to the movies in the last 10 years." "I have been too busy." "Not even a holiday..." "Since the collapse of the socialist model... when we were left in a sort of special period of hardship and double blockade..." "I have not taken a single holiday." "Did he see "Gladiator"?" "I think I saw it, on video." "Did he see "Titanic"?" ""Titanic," yes, I've seen it." "On video too." "It's a movie to see on a big screen." "Yes, it was an interesting movie, as a show." "When you were a young man..." "What actresses were you in love with?" "Almost all of them, but now I cannot remember..." " I cannot remember the names." "Rita Hayworth?" "Sophia... the Italian girl." "Yes, Sophia Loren." "She was one of the many" "I liked." "Brigitte Bardot can count me as one of her admirers." "What men did he like?" "Charlie Chaplin." "I can watch all his movies." "I could see them all again." "Movies with Cantinflas, they still seem new to me." "Depardieu..." "I've seen some of his movies." "When he played Louis XIV's chef, he had to put on a lot of weight." "But he put on so much that he stayed fat." "He's the funniest man..." "I've met him several times." "There's one scene in life which is very powerful." "When..." "I think it was right around the 59, one half million people were in a square, shouting" ""Fidel." "Fidel, Fidel."" "And I realized that you... that you were speaking for the Revolution and it's not personal but it must have been a great moment in your life." "You experience satisfaction when you see the support of the people," "but... it seems that in the last few years, since the child was kidnapped, we had here... mass rallies," "larger than... in the first years of the Revolution." "Here is a strong man, he doesn't go to a psychiatrist..." "This is the final justification." "Now I'll look bad, I'll look like a liar." "And I've told the truth." "Because the theory of the strong man and the weak man has not... been raised." "I do not read everything they write about me in the U.S." "One knows what one should read." "Tomorrow we can talk about weak men, and his weaknesses and his regrets." "My answer to that question may be rather subjective." "I'm usually very self-critical." "Not so much regarding the things I have done, or the mistakes I have made... but of the things that could have been done better." "I'd even say we are sometimes ashamed of things we have done," "even though I feel we have done 10 times better than any other" "Latin American country." "We found a country that had a 30% illiteracy rate," "60% functional illiterates." "And it is probably an exaggeration to say that" "10% of the people were well-educated." "At the time of the victory of the Revolution," "there must have been... between 30,000 and 40,000" "university graduates." "Today there are over 700,000 graduates." "One of the Revolution's greatest advances is that even prostitutes are graduates." "You know how many prostitutes there were before the Revolution?" "100,000." "And now?" "Very few." "However, one is aware that we could have done better." "Above all when you see all the possibilities." "He says it would be better if you come on this side." "Over here." "I'll do it, I'll do it." "No, no..." "Fidel, I'll do it." "Here we have cigars." " I don't know what's in there." "I do not smoke any more." "Could be candies." " I can tell it's an old box." "I haven't smoked for 17 years." "Candies!" "Very good." "I think I see a pistol." "Yes, that's all." "There is a book over there." "I moved my gun from there... or there'd have been no room for you." "Oh, yes." "You know how to use it, Fidel?" "Perhaps I still remember." "Let me see what you have over there." "What someone gave me." ""The Round Table."" ""The Round Table." And that is a book." "It's an old book." "He doesn't read up to date." "Just as well I don't bring secret papers with me." "They would have been exposed." "Do people know that he's in this car?" "Is he spottable?" "Yes, everybody knows." "Does he like to drive around at night?" "More in the past." "Because I was less of a slave" "to my office." "I traveled around a lot." "Was he shocked or not when he found out that Kennedy had an open car... no... the security?" "The windows were open on all the parade route." "The car was driving very slow." "Was he surprised by that?" "I always had my doubts because when you shoot" "with a telescopic sight it's hard to hit the target from such a distance." "When you fire the gun moves and you have to re-aim." "You couldn't fire several times in a row." "I have never believed the theory about the lone gunman." "One well-aimed shot is all he could have managed." "A conspiracy seems very likely." "Then there's that strange thing about the presumed assassin dying of sadness and honor..." "It's hard to explain it all." "Are we going into the crowd?" "No questions..." "We just walk and talk?" "The idea is to visit the school in a few minutes." "Shall I leave my bag here?" " If..." "It's safe?" "If there are no secret papers, you can leave it." " Where are you from?" "Nicaragua." " Venezuela." "Guatemala." "Bolivia." "Is tuition very low?" "It's all free." "Both for Americans and for all the international students." "American Dominican." "Thank you for coming." "American Dominican." "Oliver." "American Dominican." " Where are you from?" "I'm from New York City, Manhattan." " Trini Martinez from Oregon." "Oregon." "How's it going?" "And you?" "El Salvador." "She's from Argentina." "You'll become a doctor, go back to New York?" "Yes." "Do you have planned parenthood and abortion here?" "Yes, abortion is legal." "When it was illegal in the years before the Revolution," "illegal abortion was very common." "With terrible consequences for the health." "Many women died." "Now it is the woman's choice." "So you don't have women who are having 7 or 8 children anymore?" "That's not very common now as women are more educated." "They play a part in society." "I think we've spoiled their classes." "You know, it's the uniform." "If you came down with a pair of Bermuda shorts, American flip-flops and an ugly T-shirt..." "nobody would notice him." "It's just a joke." "He doesn't smile." "We will show... the security people how to do their job." "So that when Bush comes..." "If he travels here, you're in trouble." "I can tell you that." "No problems." "We'd take care of him." "No, he'll take care of you." "You'll be in the prison." "He'll be back in prison." "You can be sure of that." "Is Gorbachev a hero of his or not?" "He was..." "He had... good intentions." "That country needed improvements, not destruction." "Which Russian leader cut off the aid to Cuba?" "The Soviet leader who cut off aid to Cuba was... the U.S. government." "Understand?" "I'll explain." "When the USSR collapsed aid was interrupted." "Gorbachev was there." "But he was less powerful." "We had some agreements from before him" "which expired when he was leader." "He was drinking with..." "Khrushchev, he was drinking with Brezhnev, he was drinking with Yeltsin..." "All three are major drinkers." "Did he drink with them?" "No, it was difficult to compete with Yeltsin." "Which of these men amused him most?" "I got on with Khrushchev best." "Khrushchev was the shrewd peasant type." "He was the one who... initiated cooperation with Cuba and felt sympathy for Cuba." "Revolution is for any country the most violent means of change, bringing as it does death, destruction and hatred." "The Cuban Revolution ruled out one dictator, but it produced another..." "Fidel Castro." "Little did the Cuban people suspect that Castro would betray their cause and deliver them into the hands of the most ruthless of all tyrannies... into the iron grip of communism." "When you were in the guerrilla army up in the jungle, did anybody get fed up, anybody was like pissed off and wanted to quit?" "Of course." "Did people say, "This Castro doesn't know what he's doing."?" "But nobody ever complained about the Castros directly." "Some complained about... the hardships of the struggle, the great effort... what we would have at the end." "Who inspired them?" "We were inspired by" "Cuban pro-independents, who were brave fighters." "Maximo Gomez, Marti," "Maceo, who organized an invasion... 30 years with machetes and horses..." "They were our inspiration throughout." "The tactics we used were the result of observation and meditation" "and of inspiration." "Tell me about Nixon." "The first time I met him was in March 1959." "He was Vice President." "We talked..." "I explained our situation to him, shared my ideas with him..." "And he immediately drafted a report." "He wrote... that I was... a communist." "At that time, to talk about land reform identified you as a communist." "From the very beginning he gave me the impression of being a hypocrite... a small-minded politician... vain." "Furthermore, it was he who recommended that an expedition be organized to destroy us." "At what point did he actually in his own thinking commit to the Soviet Union as an ally" "and antagonize the United States?" "One: when we were deprived of the sugar quota" "and were left without a sugar market, and when the oil supply was cut off." "That was a political economic moment." "There was a sense of gratitude..." "It was not yet a political commitment... nor military." "But the fact is that the expedition was already being organized" "in Guatemala for the invasion." "And so we started requesting the purchase of weapons from the Soviet Union." "Kennedy inherited the Eisenhower administration's plans to invade Cuba." "Plans in an advanced stage." "Hardly 2 months passed before everything was under way." "Kennedy did not have much experience." "He trusted the U.S. institutions too much." "These charges are totally false and I deny them categorically." "The United States has committed no aggression against Cuba, and no offensive has been launched from Florida or from any other part of the United States." "Actually... the reason for the missiles here was that the Soviets had information" "that there was a plan to invade Cuba." "Khrushchev had made a deep commitment to Cuba." "Even at the time of the invasion he made very strong statements." "He spoke about strategic missiles, implying that Cuba would be supported." "And there was a moral factor that had to be considered." "We did not like the idea..." "We would have taken whatever risks were necessary rather than" "appear as a Soviet military base in the Western hemisphere." "So, from the military point of view, things were very bad." "They'd allowed the Americans to use their surveillance planes to survey the whole area and locate the missiles." "They put our country in great danger." "We... thought we would be obliterated." "We would be the first to disappear." "Your critics in America and the historians continue to say that in the October 26th letter to Khrushchev you called for nuclear war." "Socialism or death." "It's been interpreted that way." "I did not ask them to attack." "I said, "If this country is attacked..." "If this country is attacked with 40,000 Soviet troops..." There was an agreement..." "My conviction was that after the invasion," "the Americans would not take long to launch an attack." "We did not have a Russian translator." "There was an ambassador who spoke Spanish" "very poorly." "So, that note, I..." "I doubt that he received a clear message." "I can only imagine what the ambassador translated." "After," "Khrushchev sent me a letter defending himself from my accusations." "He said he had obtained a guarantee from the U.S. not to invade Cuba." "A verbal guarantee." "And he said we had suggested a first strike." "We will not prematurely or unnecessarily risk the course of worldwide nuclear war in which even the fruits of victory would be ashes in our mouth." "But neither will we shrink from that risk at any time it must be faced." "Kennedy committed himself." "He believed it because..." "It was a game of words." "Khrushchev resorted to the naive and superficial notion... of the intentions behind those weapons..." "He said he had no intention of using them, for him..." "That was the argument he used." "Mr. Castro could not have pushed the trigger?" "No, if we had done nothing..." "we were afraid that they would be destroyed." "And we would be left with all the radioactivity." "What should Khrushchev have asked for Cuba?" "The return of Guantanamo base." "An end to the blockade." "An end to the terrorist attacks..." "Five points." "I think the sticking point for Kennedy was that if Cuba existed as a Socialist model in the hemisphere it would have been dangerous." "The Russians understood that." "So they put their own interests first." "Yes, and I wrote about that." "They could not have won the point because America would always hate Cuba..." "Great tension was created worldwide." "No one in the world was willing to have a nuclear war over a military base there." "Or an economic blockade of Cuba." "No one would have gone to war for that." "And we were new..." "We could not pretend to have more experience." "We didn't understand the balance of power, what military might they had..." "At the time of the invasion, the Revolution was 2 years old." "At the time of the missile crisis, 3 years." "I think that we did what we had to do." "And we did it relatively well." "But I do not think we could have known how erratic our friends and allies could be." "They did not understand the Third World." "Nor the theater of operations." "They only thought about tank brigades, artillery, motorized infantry," "conventional troops." "And irregular warfare cannot be fought with conventional troops." "They are only for parades." "But we engaged in irregular warfare and we defeated our enemies." "If Mr. Castro knew that the CIA had been behind the coup of 54, then he had more reason not to trust the United States." "Especially knowing how the United States had acted historically." "But many..." "It was not the only intervention." "There was Santo Domingo..." "And in Central America on several occasions." "The CIA already existed, of course." "And he knew all this?" "Yes, everyone knew about it." "Except Americans." "Because they told the Americans one thing..." "That it was a Communist government, and a danger to the national security of the U.S." "And that is a sacred expression." "Whenever it is invoked, there is a reaction." "A conditioned reflex." ""Such and such a thing is a threat to national security."" "Affecting homeland security." "National security..." "That word is sacred." "In Vietnam there were always stories about Cuban advisers." "No, it was Cubans who were studying the Vietnamese." "To get experience." "How many Cubans were there?" "Never more than 20, I think." "I can't be completely sure." "But I know it was a very small group." "Later it was said that there were security advisers there." "And that they had taken part in the torturing of prisoners." "And I tell you that that is absolutely untrue." "I read the POW accounts in Hanoi." "We're talking about..." "I would assume two dozen men who claim there was a Cuban who at first..." "at first watched... but then participated in the beatings." "It was very brutal." "If that were true," "I assure you we would have had them tried in a court." "Believe us or not," "I assure you that in 43 years of Revolution never have we tortured anyone." "It's a principle of ours since the way." "That was what Batista used to do, and we would never resort to those methods." "The Vietnamese did not want any foreigners among their troops." "They never asked the Chinese for help." "They never asked the Russians." "Oh, yes, they were very zealous..." "Deeply nationalistic." "And the Vietnamese were not criminals." "The Vietnamese did not execute their prisoners." "There was quite a bit of brutality." "Well..." "He must know more than me." "You know that we were invaded by 1,500 men." "We took 1,200 prisoners." "In fighting which lasted 68 hours there were hundreds of wounded." "Over 100 casualties." "We were attacked by surprise, by planes with Cuban insignias." "That was the source of our... indignation." "And rage." "A great deal of rage." "You tell me if any of those 1,200 prisoners..." "I myself went..." "I arrived there..." "Ask Almeida, ask anybody." "Go into the streets... and ask if they have ever heard about torture." "It does not fit in with the way we think." "I would not have the morality to criticize anybody." "What about the Huberto Matos case?" "Well... what he did was very risky." "He was a real coward." "He was in the war for the last 8 months." "Minimal war merits..." "He wanted to get the regiment to rebel." "The trial was here." "I went to it, with all the documents." "And he was sentenced to 25 years." "It was an act of treachery." "A dangerous act." "Do you think we should walk around?" "The light's going." "They should tell us to go somewhere open and not too crazy." "Wherever we go, it will be like that." " It has to be a surprise." "...the Hemingway bar?" "I'll take you, I'll be your guide." "Now he will be the guide." "He will be your tourist guide." "And we say to Mr. Reagan... that we are not afraid of his threats." "What is a dictator?" "Does anyone really know?" "Is it bad to be a dictator?" "Because I've seen the U.S. governments, for example, being very friendly with the greatest dictators." "Marx speaks of the dictatorship of the proletariate." "Not of personal dictatorship." "I have always tried to solve basic problems through persuasion" "and moral authority." "You will not find a picture over the last 43 years" "of police oppressing the people." "People all over the world call him the "movie star dictator."" "What don't they like?" "Do they say I'm a bad actor?" "The new Evita Perén, in a way?" "Nobody denies the real achievements." "I have heard some strange things about me." "But..." "I don't see any similarity." "I do believe that Evita Perén genuinely felt for the cause of her people." "And that the people responded to her." "And she had almost more support than Perén." "It doesn't offend me if you make comparisons with her." "I did not borrow my ideas from anyone." "I have always done my job, my duty..." "I admit I am a dictator..." "a dictator to myself." "I am a dictator to myself, a slave of the people." "That's what I am." "Carlos shot a documentary in the barrios here, in Cuba, Havana." "He says that in every block..." "the blocks that he was shooting, there was always one informant type, who reports..." "So people have to be cool and they have to conform." "It was his imagination." "What we did today..." "What we did today, we could do in any neighborhood." "On any street in Havana." "We can go by ourselves." "And today you saw me order the head of the bodyguards to get out of the car." "But he's not there." "The small-time people drive everyone nuts, right?" "At school there's always a squealer who makes trouble for the people." "All states have a bureaucracy." "And people who do different things." "Maybe he's got to simplify the system so that these guys don't get rewarded." "I don't like giving..." "These are different things..." "It's not giving orders, it's persuading people." "I have been accused of talking too much, but I like to persuade people." "I don't use complicated terms." "I converse with people." "It's hard for me to keep still." "What started the universe?" "Was there an organizing principle?" "I think that most things are yet to be known." "We're only beginning to understand the organism, cells, genes." "The Pope said recently that the theory of evolution is not... incompatible" "with the doctrine of creation." "The Pope also says... he doesn't talk about hell, he talks about fear of God." "Is he an atheist?" "I do not believe." "I do not believe in all that man has created." "You're an atheist but you receive the Pope graciously." "Do you believe that religion is an opiate" "for the people?" "It all depends." "If religion is used to create values, to do good, to comfort people," "then it is not opium." "But if religious beliefs are used to defend a bad cause," "then it becomes opium." "Religion gives consolation to many people, human beings have a tendency to believe." "What is the meaning of your life?" "I feel satisfied with it, of having done what I have done." "It gives me pleasure when we advance in new ideas." "I feel absolute tranquility with the work done by the Revolution." "I would not change it for anything." "Does he feel that life's meaning, the meaning of life for human beings, is to bring one closer to understanding oneself?" "Life is a matter of acquiring values, of acquiring knowledge." "Of doing something worthwhile with your life." "To practice self-control?" "Yes." "Everything we do is to give real possibilities to the people, to help them to develop their full potential." "In the field of education, of health... the cultivation of values." "Che!" "One of the most admirable things about Fidel is that of being a historical figure, a paradigm who is constantly referring to past experiences." "But he is still of the present." "And he tells us how the future is going to be." "People don't live forever." "Man's genetic potential is 120 years." "Turtles, 300 years." "Could we modify genes and live longer?" "It would be better." "Research... could lead to the fountain of youth but I think that if men could live for 500 years," "they would get terribly bored." "So he would live forever?" "No." "Because the mind is used to the idea that there is a limited amount of time." "Tell him Viagra will help." "Help me to think?" "As doctors say, it boosts the circulation of the blood." " I could be a CIA agent." "That's right." "Then they would say, "Oliver went to Havana to deliver Viagra."" "They might think that it would help to kill this enemy with a heart attack." "He'd get the decorations he didn't get in Vietnam." "Were you decorated in Vietnam?" "Were you wounded in combat?" "Yes, he was decorated." "You were wounded twice?" "That is the courage you now need to do what you are doing." "Who's going to come after you?" "That... all depends on whether it is in 20 years' time... or 10 years' time... or 6 months' time..." "As I have always been in danger of being assassinated, since the Revolution, I believe I have the authority" "to go on with the Revolution." "It will not be easy." "I have more confidence in the ideas, in the political culture of our people," "than in men." "You love her, don't you?" "I mean she's your wife, almost an alter-ego." " Who is he talking about?" ""Her." That's me." "Yes." "She's been my translator for years." "I know. your minds..." "You must be husband and wife." "How long have you been here?" "Almost 30 years." "Almost 30 years." "Very often... she knows what I'm thinking and she goes ahead of me." "What about in his heart?" "Does he love you?" "Yes." "In my heart, yes." "What is he getting at?" "I want him to acknowledge his heart." "Yes, he wants to know everything." "It is hard to get away from his questioning." " You love him though." "Yes, of course, I love him too." "I asked earlier if you had a picture of Dalia." "I have some pictures." "But it does not seem proper to show them." "That is what I have always believed." "The other girls are visible." "Is it that her pictures are hard to find?" "Which other girls?" "Nati... the first wife..." "Mirta." "Cecilia." "There are some names" "I do not recognize." "There must be a mistake." "No, one was Nati." "Nati, I know her." "Celia Sénchez?" "I know Celia Sénchez." "And the first wife." "Yes, but you said before "Cecilia" instead of Celia." " It's a different name in Spanish." "Let me say... it has always been a habit with me that I don't think I have a right to talk about relationships" "I have had with ladies." "That is my first rule." "Not even with the mother of his sons?" "She may be the mother of my sons and she may not be." "Well, she's married officially, no?" "No." "A formality I have avoided." "I married once." "I did not need to again." "So... really... when you asked me about Mirta..." "She knew she was marrying a revolutionary." "Why do people say Celia was the great love?" "She was an extraordinary woman." "It was a different kind of relationship." "And I've never talked about that." "It has not been a life without love." "It has has been a life... with love." "It is a story I do not have the right to make public." "He reminds me of my father." "For that generation, it's a little bit harder to talk about private affairs." "Fidelito." " Hello, Fidel Junior." "Hi." "That': a very good-looking puppy you have there. ls he yours?" "No, somebody gave it to my father." "Has he been a good father?" "I mean he's been so busy." "Politically, as a revolutionary," "I refuse to mix my family with politics." "Really, the idea of First Ladies... seems ridiculous to me." "The time I have devoted to my children has not been so much." "If you measure my being a good father by time spent with them, then perhaps I have not been a good father." "But I am capable of feeling... and I do feel for them even though I do not spend all day with them." "When I am with them" "I try to make the most of the time we have together." "Why, if Mr. Castro..." "I feel he's very popular with young people, a new generation 70 or 80 percent...?" "Why not have an election now?" "That is the wrong question." "Because it is based on the assumption that there is no electoral system in Cuba," "and that there are no elections here." "Possibly our elections are much more democratic than in other countries." "He should study our electoral system, the participation of all our citizens, who elect delegates from every region." "The Party does not put up candidates." "It is the citizens who choose." "You cannot start from the assumption that there are no elections." "What about the government's discrimination against homosexuals?" "At the beginning in this country there was a machista spirit... machista... and prejudice." "Over the years that has declined to the point where there is practically" "no kind of problem." "It has been difficult due to our male-dominated heritage." "What about the black population?" "Well... the black population is the poorest." "But it also benefited most from the Revolution." "Thanks to him," "I have what I have." ""I have what I should have," as Nicolas Guillén said." "Thanks to him." "Believe me, from my heart..." "They are the most revolutionary." "Are there any black political leaders?" "Yes, we have black political leaders, but we are still not satisfied." "I think that we have still not achieved the true possibility of equal opportunities." "What's going to happen in Colombia right now?" "There came a point where the ceasefire was broken... and negotiations were broken off." "And this may lead to a very bloody war." "So he sees another Vietnam?" "What I see is a civil war." "I could not compare it to Vietnam because events do not take place in exactly the same way." "Without any doubt it will be complicated as there are different forces." "If there is a power structure that runs the world, would you want Nelson Mandela to have a neutron bomb?" "No." "I know something about that..." "My deepest conviction is that he does not even know where those weapons are." "I spoke with Mandela about that." "I asked him what he knew about those nuclear weapons." "And what the military had told him." "Where were they?" "And he said, that he'd been told that they had been destroyed, that they had been disarmed." "There's a movie in America now showing America as powerful, America patriotic, nationalistic... fighting wars against terrorism... drugs..." "The army is very scary, the weapons are very scary." "Where is this going?" "That's the same question many of us ask." "I think that the world will become more and more ungovernable." "It is impossible to establish a world order" "based on force." "The solution to the world's problems is not a military one." "I have the hope that the American people will play a decisive role" "in defending changes for a more humane order." "Che said many Vietnams will bring down America." "From a strategic point of view, his way of thinking was right." "Not "bring down America."" "I never heard Che say "bring down America."" "The U.S. is the U.S. people." "First of all put an end to corruption, and put an end to abuses, to repression in this hemisphere." "That was Che's first priority." "He meant the fight against colonialism..." "That is what Che meant by that." "People who I have talked to before told me that Che, he came back from Africa, they told me he had two nervous breakdowns," "and he came back here, went to a clinic, he had a 48-hour meeting with Fidel and then he... he slammed the door on the way out" "and then he went to Bolivia." "If history is written like that, then I would never read it again." "Here is a letter from our comrade Ernesto Guevara..." ""Fidel," "I feel I have fulfilled that part of my duty that bound me to the Cuban Revolution on its territory and now [leave you, the comrades, and your people, which is also mine."" "The truth is... that when he joined us in Mexico" "he asked for one thing." "That when the Cuban Revolution was complete, he wanted to go on." "And he did not want, for reasons of state," "us to forbid him to go." "That was the idea he had in mind." "I heard that he pissed off people." "That he was not a compromiser." "And I heard that he embarrassed Cuba because he attacked the Russians and the Russians were upset with him." "He was critical of the use of capitalist categories" "to build socialism." "Did the Soviets tell Fidel to get rid of him, put him away?" "Never." "That would be like asking me to get rid of Raul." "A man would say the motivation might very well be that he was..." "Che goes to Africa, where he has a mostly successful experience, comes back and Cuba must seem very small to him." "He wants to expand right away." "I sent him to Africa, and I'll tell you why." "He was very impatient." "He wanted to go to South America." "I did not believe that conditions were still right and that we still had to fulfill our mission in Africa." "Because he was very impatient and guerrillas need to be young." "Some people said that Fidel could have put more pressure in Bolivia to help Che." "That was a combined operation." "It would have taken time." "It was a guerrilla struggle in its first phase." "When you initiate it, the terrain, the people are unfamiliar." "And I wanted him to get there with the utmost safety." "But differences arose between him... rivalry on the part of" "the leader of the Communist Party leader." "There were contradictions." "Other lands call for my modest efforts." "To my children, to my wife, I do not leave anything material, and I do not regret it." "I am happy that it is so." "I do not ask for anything for them because the state will provide all they need to live and to be educated." "I'm going to quote an actor, Vittorio Gassman." "He was interviewed when he was 70." "He said," ""Life should be lived twice." "The first time is a rehearsal, and the second time we'd live for real."" "Always back to philosophy." "I wish... we could think of life" "as in two parts." "One part as a rehearsal and the other part" "as the real thing." "It happened to him, to me, to everyone." "Yes, but there are things in all our lives..." "So possibly twice..." "It's enough to be born just once." "Did he make mistakes?" "Yes, like everyone." "Life is a process of learning ideas, values." "We are not born with ideas." "We are not born with values." "We are taught those things." "Or to a certain extent we teach them to ourselves." "Is there any specific moment, regret, political, personal, that you would just go back now and change it?" "If I were born again..." "I would be the same as I am now... given that I was born under the same circumstances." "Let us not fool ourselves into thinking that what lies ahead will be easy." "Perhaps what lies ahead will all be more difficult." "I have to take you to the airport." "That's my only guarantee." "Let's go." "Oliver, don't waste another minute." "It's a Mexican plane." "No flowers or gifts, we'll mail them to you." "Life is good to you." "Same here." "It was good because it brought you here." "Many, many thanks." "Thank you." "Good luck." "Leave him here so we can feed him up." "That would be good, to do some volunteer work." "Those who would give up essential Liberty to obtain a little temporary Safety deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." "Benjamin Franklin."