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About Eugene register-guard. (Eugene, Or.) 1930-1983 | View Entire Issue (April 12, 1962)
0 Page B EUGENE REGISTER-GUARD, Thur April 12. 1962 i Visiting U.S. Reporter Says: Ideological Race Still On in Cuba EDITOR'S NOTE Dave Roberts, travel editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer, visited . Cuba two years ago when Fidel Castro was riding the crest of popularity and be ginning his love affair with the Soviet Union. When an old friend in Havana re cently asked him to fly down for a little fishing and hunt ing, Roberts felt it would be a good chance to find out what had happened to the Cuban people. 1 During a ten-day visit in March, sanctioned by the State Department and the Castro government, Roberts got in his fishing and shoot ing. He also drove more than 1,300 miles through Cuba's interior and nosed around Havana. He ques tioned government workers, farmers, militiamen, sales girls and scores of others. Here are some of Roberts' findings. By DAVE ROBERTS Of th Auoctated Preil Distributed by the Associated Press After a few days of roam ing around the island of Cuba, I camo slowly to the realiza tion that this was not a Com munist country at all not in the way Russia is Communist. I was witnessing a race still being run, not one that al ready had been lost. The race is between men and their ideas, in which the forces of Communism, by "Education," are trying to win the hearts of free men before the free men can effectively organize their scattered strength. Every day the Castro re gime's educational campaign is making converts, but each day new opposition is born, particularly in the rural areas where Fidel Castro once had his strength. Firing of the sugar cane fields, Cuba's main source of income, has long been the hallmark of Cuban farmers in revolt. Castro, still deep in the hills of Oricnte in 1058, pointed to the smoke clouds as portents of popular sup port. But for every fire lighted in support of Castro in 1958, I saw a dozen lighted against him in 1962. Not Easy to Catch In one 54-mile stretch I saw 16 fullflcdgcd blazes within sight of the highway as we drove home from a morning of fishing. The 1,300 miles I drove around the country showed me hundreds of scorched fields. About one third of the loads of cane being hauled by truck toward the mills was charred black. This can still be processed into sugar, but it loses two-thirds of its value. The Castro government has decreed death for anyone found guilty of burning cane, YOU NEVER HAD IT SO LUCKY OREGON PHOTO LAB TAKES THE "HEX" OUT OF PRICES! Values Good Through Saturday, 14th Open 'til 8 Friday Open 'til 6 Saturday 8mm MOVIE FILM FLASH BULBS KODAK stllh proreislnc Anr slie or color KODACHROME I coLORCimoME $-97 1A Fol QQ( "wmproSr Ilk THKE 20. tt U 7 List $4.00 $173 Reel with each roU . . . I , . ,w... 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The answer Is on the lips of thousands of disappointed peons who had been told when Castro took power that land would be tak en from the large landowners and distributed to them. With Castro's agrarian re form program, farmers are beginning to realize that in stead of getting ground for themselves, they're doing the same old work but for a new boss. Full Dosages of Communism Cuban leaders look upon the island's schools as a pro per vehicle for political in doctrination. They are de pending on schools to indoc trinate the whole nation with the Communist philosophy be fore mounting anti-Commu-. nist forces can topple the gov ernment. With government appropri ations for schools second only to those for military purposes, Castro has done more for edu cation in three years than was done in the previous 25. But while the students in the public schools will absorb a little rcadin,' writin' and 'rithmetic, they'll also absorb full dosages in the science of communism. Castro is depending on two factors which he hopes will smother the seeds of anti Communist rebellion until his system of Red indoctrination has had time to conquer the hearts of the Cubanos. They are first, the military organizations and second actually part of the first the enthusiastic, hard-working and sometimes brilliant young Cuban Communists. The Insistent Sound Castro's strong and able military forces are made up for the most part of young men and women who share a common enthusiasm. The army polices Cuba. There are no other police forces such as wo have In our cities and counties. You can't spend an hour in . the country without seeing evidence of the great need which must exist for strict and constant military control. One of the most insistent sounds in Cuba these days is the "Hup, hup, hup, hup" of squad sergeants shouting cad ence for marching troops. You move nowhere without per mission of the military. The primary purpose of these militiamen, according to the Castro government, is to be ready for the forthcom ing invasion of "mercenaries" from the United States. You see evidence all over Cuba to support the hoax that the United States is about to stage a massive invasion ef fort. Trenches line parts of OREGON PHOTO LAB "Where quality is stnething more than uQ a word" O Across from the Sacred Heart Hospital 1231 Alder St. Dl 3-7541 famed Veradero Beach. Sim ilar fortifications are strung out along other sectors of the north coast. Bints of Old Luxury Castro's military machine has begun to move down the same road followed by ex-Dictator Batista. There are ar rests, tortures and executions, and they all increase the num ber of anti-government Cu bans. Another cause of mounting unrest is the shortage of food, although it is not as bad as some outsiders believe. Short ages appear in homes and res taurants. But while the old abundance is gone, there is still enough food to maintain a fair standard of living. In restaurants one meat or fish dish usually is available. Sometimes a vegetable omelet must suffice. But in some of the night clubs and govern ment hotels you can still find hints of the old luxury. In homes, conditions ap pear considerably more seri ous. Still, if the present rate of rationing can be continued, no one will starve. The Castro government is trying to turn these shortages to propaganda advantage. Uncle Sam and his Western allies get the blame for every thing from chinch bugs to broken drive shafts, from dir ty flour to soleless shoes. How well this hate campaign is working is hard to answer. I found no evidence of per sonal anomosity from anyone anywhere in Cuba. I was as warmly received and as hos pitably treated as I ever was. Night Club Propaganda But it has been only in re cent weeks that the real chips have been down. Castro's been howling how much the United States was hurting Cuba. But Cuba had not been feeling much pain. Now things aren't going well. Fidel now has proof that Cubans are being hurt. I found Havana's night clubs booming much like the old days except that gambling has disappeared. But the night clubs like the schools are Communist propaganda vehicles. The floor shows are built around anti-U.S. jokes and Uncle Sain is portrayed with the face of an ape and the protruding fangs of a Gargan tua. Gangsters and a gold clad figure known as Mr. Got rocks also appear on the scene. At one show a Cuban with all the earmarks of a city detective slipped into a seat at the table adjoining mine. I laughed like fury at the anti-U.S. jokes after that. I wasn't certain he was tailing me, but if so, I hope he was confused! HEWLUESfif l2)ffl(l5,(U U U.UUVS7 SIMMONS QUILTED NO W We and Simmons have done it again, brought you can't-be-beat values in outstanding bedding. 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