`We share the idea of a peaceful world'

Interview with Felipe Perez Roque, Cuba's Foreign Minister.

CUBAN Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque who was in New Delhi on a three-day visit in the second week of April, signed key agreements with the Indian government. Importantly, India has agreed to waive accumulated Cuban commercial debt worth $62 million. A significant part of this debt is owed to private Indian companies. The Indian government, by this gesture, has shown its solidarity with the Cuban people, who have been victims of a merciless economic blockade by the United States for more than four decades. The youthful Felipe Perez Roque was, therefore, justified in describing his visit, the first by a Cuban Foreign Minister in more than a decade, as a great success.

The visit coincided with the news that an American court had decided to drop terrorism charges against Posada Carriles, a "most wanted" man in Cuba and Venezuela. Carriles has been involved in heinous terrorist acts on behalf of the U.S. government since the 1960s in the Caribbean and Latin America. His main claim to notoriety was the downing of a Cuban civilian airliner in 1976 over the Bahamas, which killed all the passengers on board.

Excerpts from an exclusive interview Roque gave Frontline:

How would you describe the state of the relations between India and Cuba?

Our bilateral ties are very good. Our relations have been lasting relations - relations between two brotherly cultures. Our political ties have been based on commonly held viewpoints. We share the idea of a peaceful world benefiting all people. Both countries defend multilateralism and profound reforms in international relations. Both countries want to preserve the environment from further degradation. Both countries want the South to have a united front to face up to the increasingly protected markets of the North.That the countries of the South should have access to technologies and to international financial flows. Both countries are also non-aligned. India is among the most-respected NAM [Non-Aligned Movement] countries. It has a rich history. It was led by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. We remember the chairmanship of NAM under Indira Gandhi. We have many common viewpoints. I have brought a letter from [Cuban President] Fidel Castro to the Indian Prime Minister [Manmohan Singh]. Fidel in his letter has underscored all these ideas. Fidel has thanked India for its unwavering support for Cuba's chairmanship of NAM.

How do the bilateral economic relations fare?

On the economic front, there is a lot of untapped potential. [As] a matter of fact there is a lot of cooperation in the biotechnology sector. We have already started joint operations in Bangalore. Indian companies will soon start operating from Cuba. In the joint commission meeting of both countries held in Havana in February, the Indian government offered a generous solution for the Cuban debt to India. This will pave the way for increasing trade between the two countries. You should remember that our relations go back a long way. Che Guevara was in India in 1960 and he met Nehru. Nehru, who was in New York for the U.N. [United Nations] General Assembly meeting, went to Hotel Teresa in Harlem to meet Fidel soon after the revolution. Fidel's picture with Indira Gandhi at the 1983 NAM summit after he handed over the Chairmanship to India is etched in the collective memory of all Cubans. Your magazine carried the picture of Fidel and Manmohan Singh at the Havana Summit on its cover.

How is Fidel Castro's health? There were pictures of him taking a walk with his close friend, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

He is recovering well. When Fidel met with Manmohan [Singh] last September he was quite thin. He has recovered his weight now. He has gained 40 pounds [about 18 kilos] since he met the Indian Prime Minister. He has started taking regular long walks and exercise as per medical advice so that he can make a complete recovery. Fidel and Gabbo [Marquez] walk and talk regularly.

Fidel Castro's recent article on the ethics of producing bio-fuels for the market of the North was widely appreciated in India. The Hindu reproduced the article.

We are very much concerned about the idea of the South growing food to produce bio-fuel for the North. Corn and other grains, which could alleviate the hunger of 1.7 billion people of the South, would be used for this purpose. To set aside land for the production of bio-fuels to satisfy the needs of gas-guzzling countries is a danger to the planet and its environment. It will have other bad effects. For instance, there will be a reduction in the area allocated for the cultivation of soyabean. The area set aside for the cultivation of soyabean will be used to grow corn for bio-fuels. This is already happening in the United States. It will also lead to an increase in grain prices in the world market. If bio-fuels are encouraged, Third World countries will have to import more food.

The Left has been making impressive political gains in your region.

[George W.] Bush is isolated in Latin America and the Caribbean. A new reality is emerging on our continent. The so-called Washington Consensus that emerged 20 years ago under the tutelage of the IMF [International Monetary Fund] and the World Bank was a blueprint for neo-liberalisation and the aggrandisement of our national wealth. The large-scale privatisation along with the opening up of national markets which followed resulted in more than half the population of Latin America living below the poverty line. The social sector was mainly ignored during this period and there was a decrease in the role of the state in general.

Now there is a new awakening among the people. They have realised that reclaiming their sovereignty and control of national resources is important. More importance is being given to the redistribution of wealth. Cuba is no longer alone. There is President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and [President] Evo Morales in Bolivia. Overall, in all the countries there is a movement where key ideas like the economic integration of Latin America dominate. If 33 countries of the region come together, they will be respected in the world. Important changes are taking place in Latin America. The U.S. can no longer impose its designs on the nations of the region.

Is there an end in sight to the U.S. blockade of Cuba?

Not in the near future. At least not during the Bush presidency. The Bush administration has further strengthened the blockade in a most ruthless and meticulous form. No other country has suffered as much as Cuba. The blockade has already cost us over $90 billion. The blockade is going to be 50 years old soon.

It has caused major obstacles for Cuba, making it difficult for us to either import or export essential items. For instance, any ship docking in Cuban ports cannot visit the U.S. for more than a year. Companies investing in Cuba cannot invest in the U.S. Under the Helms-Burton Act, if it wants to export automobiles to the U.S., a company in India producing automobiles or for that matter a company in Japan producing automobiles must certify that its product does not contain nickel or any other metal that originated from Cuba. This is the degree to which the persecution of Cuba under the blockade has descended.

We in Cuba have continued to endure and have not succumbed. However, we feel that it will only be a matter of time for the blockade to be lifted. If the blockade is lifted, Cuba's social development and economic growth will be unprecedented.

Our differences are only with the government of the United States and the imperialist circles there. We respect the American people.

Your take on the American government's double standards on the question of terrorism, especially in the context of the recent decision of a U.S. court to release the notorious terrorist Posada Carriles.

The American government that is masquerading as the leader in the fight against terrorism has been the one organising and financing terrorism in Cuba for many years now. Because of terrorist action against Cuba, more than 3,000 Cubans have died and more than 2,000 incapacitated physically. The U.S., on the other hand, has apprehended five innocent Cubans on trumped-up charges of terrorism. They (these Cubans) had provided information about terrorist activities on American soil. The information they provided prevented acts of terrorism from being committed. We had shared the information they provided with the U.S. authorities. The U.S. government, instead of apprehending the terrorists, arrested the five Cuban youth. They were helping to prevent terrorist acts. This is an illustration of double standards. Now it is the attempt to release Posada Carriles. Posada has evidently told the American administration that if he is convicted on charges of terrorism he will expose everything he knows. He will confess that he was working for the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] since the early 1960s. In 1976, George Bush Sr. was the CIA chief. That was the year a Cuban civilian aircraft was blown in mid-air. Posada Carriles, who was responsible for putting the bomb on the aircraft, is blackmailing the present U.S. administration, knowing the connection between the present President and his father.

What are your views on Chavez's concept of a new socialism for the 21st century?

We share his ideas. Socialism is the most humane and just system. It takes into consideration the new conditions prevalent in a globalised world and attaches the theories and practice of socialism to these realities. The threat to our species has to disappear. The financial resources of our world are not endless and there are limits to their exploitation. Development has to happen according to the national realities of each country. There is no single model of socialism. We have to be creative and we have to be bold. Chavez has been courageous to defend his ideas and has faced serious dangers because of his beliefs. He is compelled to deal with many dangerous enemies. He is a committed revolutionary and a fighter.