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Up close with
Castro
Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer,
who found Castro to be "disarming and
sincere," was accompanied on the visit
by Commissioner of Agriculture Charles R.
Sharpe, state Rep. Chip Limehouse and executives
of Maybank Shipping.
By Ron Menchaca , of The
Post and Courier Staff. Charleston
Post Courier, SC.
HAVANA--Exhausted from a private three-hour
exchange with Cuban President Fidel Castro,
a South Carolina trade delegation returned
home Saturday, still spellbound from an
unexpected meeting with the communist dictator
that rambled into the early morning hours.
What had been a remote possibility at the
beginning of the four-day trade mission
in the capital city of Havana turned into
a frank and enlightening exchange with a
devout communist leader rarely seen in person
by his own people.
WADE SPEES/STAFF
Cuban President Fidel Castro makes a point
Friday during a meeting in Havana with a
group of South Carolina elected officials
and businessmen. The delegation was in Cuba
to promote trade.
For the delegation, led by Lt. Gov. Andre
Bauer, the encounter offered a rare, up-close
dialogue with one of the most recognizable
and controversial world leaders of modern
times.
Bauer, who found Castro to be "disarming
and sincere," was accompanied on the
visit by Commissioner of Agriculture Charles
R. Sharpe, state Rep. Chip Limehouse and
executives of Maybank Shipping.
On Thursday, the delegation secured a commitment
from the Cuban government to purchase $10
million worth of agricultural products from
South Carolina's farmers. Dozens of states
are exporting such goods to Cuba under changes
made in 2001 to the long-standing Cuban
embargo.
The Republican delegation members disavowed
themselves from Castro's political beliefs
but made known their opposition to U.S.
policy toward the Caribbean island nation
of more than 11 million people. As part
of the trade commitment, the delegation
agreed to encourage their federal counterparts
to push for lifting the trade and travel
ban on Cuba.
The Bush administration opposes normal
trade relations with Cuba as long as the
country maintains a socialist system that
strips Cubans of democratic freedoms through
rigid food rationing and limited job opportunities.
Delegates said their talk with Castro altered
lifelong negative impressions. Still, they
expect some backlash from the visit from
those who consider such coziness with Cuba
risky politics.
"I'm 65 years old and have done a
lot of things -- met President Reagan and
both Bushes," Sharpe said Saturday.
"This is probably the highlight of
my life here."
It was clear late Friday that something
was about to happen, as maids cleared a
seat at the center of the table, using a
brush to wipe away food crumbs from dinner.
Cuban officials paced around nervously and
continually peered out the window toward
the street.
Just before 9:30 p.m. Friday, after the
delegation was wrapping up a dinner meeting
with top Cuban trade officials, a convoy
of three black 1990s Mercedes rolled up
to the home in the upscale Havana neighborhood
of Miramar and out stepped Castro.
"I was flabbergasted," said Maybank
Shipping President Jack Maybank, who along
with his son Jack Maybank Jr. set up the
delegation's trip.
Castro, 77, appeared healthy and rested.
He spoke in Spanish in a steady, commanding
voice that prompted the guests to question
recent news accounts suggesting the leader
was in poor health.
"I expected to see a person who is
not quite on the ball as one might think.
That was not the case," Limehouse said.
"I must admit he is somewhat imposing.
When a communist leader sits across the
table from you in full uniform, it's a different
feeling."
Dressed in black shoes and his crisp, signature
green military uniform, Castro sat straight
up in his chair. He reached for and unwrapped
a piece of hard candy from a dish on the
table and popped it in his mouth.
"I don't eat much, and I drink little.
I drink a little bit of wine because it
has antioxidants," Castro said through
an interpreter as he fidgeted with a Maybank
Shipping brochure on the table. "I
think it is very important to exercise your
mind. A lot of people when they retire,
they collapse. They grow old. I'm excited
about my work."
The delegation members leaned forward in
their seats, transfixed by Castro's dark-brown
eyes. He spoke for long stretches on topics
ranging from world hunger and farming methods
to education and the effects hurricanes
have had on Cuba's sugar cane plantations.
Displaying an enthusiasm for arcane statistics,
Castro spewed dates and numbers relevant
to his country's health care and education
systems. He stroked his beard and waved
his long index fingers for emphasis.
Castro did most of the talking. The state
delegates and the other Cubans at the table
were hesitant to interrupt his stream-of-consciousness
flow.
Bauer occasionally attempted to steer Castro
toward addressing the embargo or the Bush
administration, but Castro answered with
comments on entirely different topics.
"What I always tell American farmers
is 'why should you worry. The thing that
is in the shortest supply in the world is
food.' "
Cuba has been on a mission in recent years
to reduce its national operating costs,
Castro said. As the sugar exports that drove
the island's economy for decades continue
to decline, tourism has emerged as Cuba's
leading industry.
The country has shut down nearly half of
its sugar melts, Castro said. "We have
found a solution for unemployment by studying
operating costs. You should not produce
something if the operation cost is higher
than the import cost."
Employees laid off from the closed sugar
factories have been sent back to school,
he said.
As Cuba struggles to recover from the 1991
collapse of the Soviet Union, its former
communist ally and major trading partner,
the country is importing millions of dollars
worth of U.S. farm products. South Carolina
will soon join the list of suppliers. The
trade agreement signed last week calls for
shipments of cattle, fruit, wheat and other
goods.
The cargo will be shipped to Cuba on barges
owned by Maybank's company. Castro seemed
keenly interested in the custom vessels,
peppering Maybank with questions about the
barges' top speed and storage capacity.
"The day your barge came to Cuba,
the news traveled all over the world,"
Castro said of a July visit of a Maybank
barge to Cuba. It was the first shipment
by a U.S.-flagged vessel crewed by Americans
to unload at Havana's port since the embargo
began more than 40 years ago.
As the clock ticked toward midnight Friday,
Castro seemed unconcerned about the time.
He never noticeably looked at a digital
black watch on his left wrist. About two
hours into the conversation, he said he
had to leave for another meeting. He then
stayed for another hour to explain his habit
of reviewing details of public polling from
Cuba's populace.
"We've been doing this the last four
years. It's very helpful. Cubans speak about
everything and complain about everything
and have no qualms about giving an opinion.
You cannot rule a country unless you do
it by consensus."
Castro said he encourages critical viewpoints
in the polling. Yet, his regime has a record
of stifling political dissent.
The "protocol" house where Friday's
meeting took place is one of dozens of government-owned
safe houses scattered throughout the city.
Most belonged to Cuban elite before the
1959 communist revolution that brought Castro
to power and marked his rise to global notoriety.
When their owners fled the country for
the United States, Castro seized the properties
to use for entertaining VIPs. Ordinary Cubans
have little access to Castro. He moves around
between dozens of homes to avoid a routine
that might assist in his assassination.
There have been numerous attempts.
Meetings with him are not guaranteed until
he walks in the door, and they are held
very late in the day.
Before Castro was whisked away to one of
the waiting Mercedes, he and the delegation
exchanged gifts -- a crystal candelabra
and cuff links with the state seal for the
feisty Cuban and Cohiba cigars in Castro-autographed
wooden boxes for the state officials.
Star-struck, the delegation members looked
at each other for a reality check as Castro
walked out into the wee hours of the night.
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