Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
from El Nuevo Diario, Managua, Nicaragua, Nov. 11, 1996

Fidel Castro at Summit's Center

By Marco Sibaj, translated from El Nuevo Diario, Managua, 11 November, 1996

Emotional visit of Cuban leader to Salvador Allende's Tomb

Santiago (REUTER) - On Sunday [November 10], Cuban President Fidel Castro visited the tomb of deceased Chilean ex-president Salvador Allende, who was his host when he came to this South American country in 1971.

Castro, dressed in civilian clothing, was received at the Santiago General Cemetery by Allende's daughter, socialist congressional deputy Isabel Allende [not the writer], who accompanied him to the mausoleum of the former president to place a floral offering with a ribbon with the symbol of Cuba.

Hours later, Castro spoke before the other 22 heads of state who are participating in the VI Iberoamerican Summit, and put in doubt the possibility that the region could achieve a true democratic governability.

"While the abyss between the rich and poor grows every day, to the point of placing Latin America in the sad role of championing this difference, what real possibility is there to achieve a true democratic governability with justice and hope for all?" he asked.

He cited the policy of privatization, the concentration of the means of production in the hands of transnational capital, and lagging behind in scientific achievement as factors working against the independence for the region's nations.

Earlier, during his visit to the cemetery, the island leader was visibly moved when after placing the offering, he stopped for a few seconds in front of the mausoleum of Allende, who was overthrown on Septmber 11, 1973 by a coup d'etat who brought Gen. Augusto Pinochet to power.

Allende died during the coup when the Chilean air force bombed the presidential palace, known as La Mondeda.

"It was a very emotional moment, [Fidel Castro] returning after 25 years to see the person who was his great friend," Isabel Allende told the press after the visit, made under strict security.

Socialist Party President Camilo Escalona commented that the visit was "a meeting of two great figures of the Latin American Left of their epoch." Also attending were Communist Party President Gladys Marin, the head of the Socialist party, Escalona, and a number of leaders of both groups.

[When] Pinochet -- now in the northern city of Iquique -- was asked to comment on the presence of Castro in Chile, he answered that "if the government wants to invite Lucifer and Lucifer comes here, I have no reason to get involved."

Castro's presence has been a major attraction of the VI Iberoamerican Summit, which is taking place for the second time in Chile.

On Sunday some 2,000 people gathered in Almagro Plaza in central-southern Santiago to express their support for Castro -- the largest demonstration which his appearance has so far prompted.

"Pinochet hid!" the crowd shouted in unison, referring to the General, who left for the port of Iquique to supervise a military excercise. Some commentators believe that he left Santiago in order not to have to see Castro.

When Castro arrived in Chile on Saturday [November 9], he was received in the city by multitudes in the streets carrying Cuban flags and signs of welcome. Saturday afternoon, while Castro participated in the meeting of the presidents in the eastern part of the capital, some 60 people held a demonstration in a Santiago park to protest Castro's presence at the Summit.

Later, when Castro went to the city center for the dinner celebrating the inauguration of the summit, a score of women appeared at the Hyatt hotel to carry out a "cacerlazo" -- the banging of pots and pans in the street as a form of protest -- against the Cuban president. [This was a common form of protest by the middle class against Salvador Allende prior to his overthrow, and has been encouraged and recommended by the CIA as a "black propaganda" tactic for many years -- NY Transfer.]

Meanwhile, the other presidents of the Iberoamerican countries issued a strong call on Sunday to prioritize ethics and efficiency in their governing.

"There is no true governability without democratic legitimacy, but neither without efficacy in the achievements of development," said Chilean president Eduardo Frei, opening the VI Iberoamerican Summit.

Argentine president Carlos Menem, host of the previous summit, echoed Frei's remarks, saying that a "a true expression of effective and efficient government translates into the democratic system."

The region's heads of state are attending the summit, whose theme is "Governability for a Participative Democracy," aware of an intense popular demand for greater justice and social equality, and less corruption.

Although the word "governability" called together the heads of state, the president of Ecuador, Abdala Bucaram, told his colleagues that this word does not exist in the dictionary.

"I have found that the word 'governability' -- the central idea of this VI Iberoamerican Summit -- is not in the dictionary of the Real Academia Espanola [Royal Spanish Academy]; and that only demonstrates, with all due respect to academics [scholars of language], that we politicians advance more rapidly," said Bucaram.

NY Transfer News Collective
339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012
http://www.blythe.org
e-mail: nyt@blythe.org