By Mail Foreign Service and Oliver Pickup
Last updated at 5:47 PM on 8th September 2010
Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro has admitted that he now believes all
the efforts to arm Russia with nuclear weapons in the Cold War weren't
'worth it at all'.
In a candid interview with an American journalist - one of the first
since the 84-year-old placed himself back in the public eye after
falling ill four years ago - Castro claims his attitudes have been diluted.
One of the primary leaders of the Cuban Revolution, Castro stepped down
as President in 2008 ceding power to his brother, Raul, as he was in
poor health.
Speaking to Jeffrey Goldberg, a reporter for The Atlantic, Castro lifted
the lid on his current political views - even questioning his own
actions in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
He also criticised Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his
anti-Semitic views and urged him to back down from his pro-nuclear stance.
Goldberg was on holiday last month when an official from Cuba called to
say Castro had read his recent article about Israel and Iran and wanted
him to come to Cuba.
Goldberg asked Julia Sweig, a Cuba-U.S. policy expert at the Council on
Foreign Relations, to accompany him, and the pair spent portions of
three days talking with Castro.
Goldberg said their first meeting lasted five hours and featured
appearances by Castro's wife, Dalia, his son Antonio, and several
bodyguards, two of which held his elbow to steady Castro when he moved.
'His body may be frail, but his mind is acute, his energy level is
high,' wrote Goldberg, who also noted Castro's self-deprecating humour.
The ex-President wore full military fatigues and an olive-green cap
while addressing university students last week - his first public
address in four years.
Golberg said Castro, who himself has been a fierce critic of Israel,
'repeatedly returned to his excoriation of anti-Semitism,' chiding
Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust.
Castro said that Iran could further the cause of peace by 'acknowledging
the "unique" history of anti-Semitism and trying to understand why
Israelis fear for their existence.'
The grey-bearded revolutionary related to Goldberg a story from his
childhood that has been detailed by some biographers: that he overheard
classmates saying Jews killed Jesus Christ.
'I didn't know what a Jew was. I knew of a bird that was a called a
'Jew,' and so for me the Jews were those birds,' Goldberg quoted Castro
as telling him.
Castro later added, 'This is how ignorant the entire population was.'
According to Goldberg, Castro said, 'I don't think anyone has been
slandered more than the Jews. I would say much more than the Muslims.'
Castro also said that the Iranian government should understand that the
Jews 'were expelled from their land, persecuted and mistreated all over
the world, as the ones who killed God'.
After undergoing emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006, giving up
Cuba's presidency and dropping out of sight for four years, Castro has
begun making near-daily public appearances to warn of a nuclear war
pitting the U.S. and Israel against Iran and also featuring a
Washington-led attack on North Korea.
'This problem is not going to get resolved, because the Iranians are not
going to back down in the face of threats,' Castro told Goldberg.
Goldberg also said he revisited the Cuban Missile Crisis with Castro,
asking if once 'it seemed logical for you to recommend that the Soviets
bomb the U.S.'
'Does what you recommended still seem logical now?'
Castro's answer surprised him: 'After I've seen what I've seen, and
knowing what I know now, it wasn't worth it all.'
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