From the Journal of S.M. Kudryavtsev, 'Record of a Conversation with Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba Fidel Castro Ruz, 10 August 1961'

from the journal of

S. M. KUDRYAVTSEV

Secret. Copy Nº 2

28 August 1961

Nº 279

RECORD OF A CONVERSATION

with Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba

Fidel Castro Ruz

10 August 1961

1. I met with Fidel Castro this evening and in accordance with instructions [I] had I informed him that the CPSU CC and the Soviet government will be glad to receive President Dorticos in the Soviet Union in September of this year and exchange opinions with him on all questions which the Cuban government would like to discuss.

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2. Then I touched on the question of the progress of the economic conference of OAS member states in Montevideo.

Fidel Castro said that sending E. Guevara to this conference gave special importance to the speeches of the Cuban delegation. E. Guevara was warmly greeted by the Uruguayan people, and officials are also receiving E. Guevara well. Guevara immediately took a leading role at the conference and showed the advantages of economic cooperation with the Soviet Union and the other socialist countries in comparison to with the US in his speech very well. The American delegation was forced to take a defensive position as result of Guevara’s speeches. As always, the US made promises about aid in the future and avoided a specific resolution of the questions of the day.

Fidel Castro continued, on the whole the first days of work of the conference in Montevideo show that the position of Cuba in the countries of Latin America has considerably strengthened recently and the attempts of the US to isolate Cuba are flopping. On the one hand, the defeat of the interventionists at Playa Giron in April of this year and, on the other, the enormous successes of the Soviet Union expressed in the flight of a man into space have contributed to this.

Fidel Castro noted, the consistent foreign policy of the Soviet Union directed at strengthening peace and changing the correlation of forces in favor of the socialist camp are forcing a number of Latin American countries to look at their relations with the Soviet Union in a different way. Fidel Castro stressed, the authority of the USSR in the countries of Latin America has recently grown immeasurably, and this pleases the Cuban government very much.

3. [Concerning monetary reform in Cuba]

Ambassador of the USSR in the Republic of Cuba

(S. Kudryavtsev)