Sep 21, 2007 6:54 pm US/Eastern
Castro Appears In Interview On Cuban TV
HAVANA (CBS) ―
The price of crude oil, the costliness of the Iraq war, and so-called U.S. dominance in the political arena were some of the topics Fidel Castro spoke about in a taped interview that aired Friday afternoon, ending many exiles' suspicions that the dictator had died.
Reuter's news service first announced that Castro would be making a taped appearance on Cuban TV Friday shortly after 6 p.m. Friday. The host of the nightly talk show Mesa Redonda, Randy Alonso Falcón aired a one-on-one interview with Castro at an undisclosed location. The 81-year-old dictator seemed in better physical shape than in previous TV appearances, but was still wearing the jogging suit with the colors of the Cuban flag he appeared to be wearing in previous TV appearances after he fell ill.
"They criticize this on me," he said as he pulled at the coat by his collar. "But it's very pretty."
The outfit, Castro says, was made by the same maker who creates the apparel for Cuba's sports teams.
"I'm not looking for elegance or any publicity."
Alonso Falcón begun by talking about how Castro's very appearance on the show would make many in the Cuban exile community "fall on their backs", proving that dozens of news reports of his ailing health were wrong. But as is usually the case with Castro, the conversation turned into bashing the U.S. and what Castro calls its attempt to gain political dominance over the world. Castro made references to the days of cold war and the bad memories he has experienced of that era. He went on to mention how the world is becoming polarized again through the turmoil going on in the Middle East.
The time references made by him quashed any doubt that the tape was doctored at an earlier date. After mentioning how the Iraq war is one of the costliest that the U.S. has ever undertaken, he went on to mention how the Euro hit a new record. That mention would put the recording date some time after the Euro rose to $1.4121 on Thursday. He expressed amazement at crude oil prizes, saying no one would have imagined they would've reached $84 a barrel.
After some rambling about economics that were hard to make sense of, the conversation quickly turned to books published in the U.S., in particular Alan Greenspan's new book, "The Age of Turbulence". As he held a copy sample of the book he read an excerpt from it for more than 10 minutes. It's all part of what the host of the show called Castro's reflections, which poses as attempt by Castro to share his ideas with the world, reach out to the people, and prove that he is still alive.
At first, Castro often trailed off mid-sentence, and needed some prompting. But he appeared to get stronger and more comfortable as time passed. His eyes and facial expression were clear.
Castro has not been since in public since July 31, 2006, when he announced that emergency intestinal surgery was forcing him to step down in favor of a provisional government headed by his younger brother Raul.
For months, official photographs and videos showed Castro's recovery, but no new images had surfaced since he appeared in an interview on Cuban television June 5.
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