Stopover in Havana

Even stolid Aleksei Kosygin must have been struck by the change from Glassboro, N.J., where his opposite number was earnestly conciliatory and the townsfolk were downright friendly.

It was a thin crowd waiting on the steaming concrete apron of Havana's Jose Marti Airport, consisting mostly of diplomats from Communist embassies, and the handshake from his only ally in the Western Hemisphere, Cuba's Fidel Castro, was sullen. There were no decorations, no honor guard, no military band. And not until half an hour after Kosygin's arrival did Radio Havana get around to mentioning the visit. Even then, it gave only a brief announcement barely longer than another item praising workers of the Balcan pasteurization plant for delivering their quota of yoghurt.

Visible Strains. Though Russia continues to pump $1,000,000 a day into Cuba's ailing economy, strains are visibly sharpening between the two countries, and the two leaders had much to discuss. The basic problem stems from the nature of Castro's Communism. He has never really toed his Marx in the strict ideological and economic sense; at heart, he remains a guerrilla. His chief interest lies in exporting revolution to the rest of Latin America.

A few years ago, Russia welcomed Cuba's subversive efforts. No longer. Well aware that Castro's guerrilla wars are getting nowhere, that they are doing more harm than good to Communism's image, Moscow is now trying to achieve a foothold in Latin America through diplomacy and trade expansion (TIME, March 31). Such tactics, Castro claims, only help the "oligarchies" that he is trying to overthrow. To make sure that Moscow gets the point, Castro is planning a Latin America-wide meeting in Havana next month to discuss future strategies for his guerrilla wars of liberation. He is even setting up headquarters for a broader Tri-Continental Organization in--of all places--Cairo. Castro claims that Russian support of the Mideast cease-fire was a "capitulation" comparable to Khrushchev's withdrawal of Soviet missiles from Cuba in October 1962 (see PRESS).

During four days of Castro-Kosygin talks, Cubans read or heard almost nothing of what went on. The only hint came at midweek, when Tass reported that the discussions were "frank"--a favorite Soviet euphemism for disagreement. Toward the end of the meetings, however, the two men apparently worked out some of their major differences. The day Kosygin left Havana, airport roads were lined with Russian and Cuban flags, an honor guard boomed out a 21-gun salute, and Castro gave his visitor a parting abrazo.

From Havana, Kosygin flew on to Paris and brief talks with Charles de Gaulle. The visit was mostly ceremonial--a Soviet show of thanks for De Gaulle's indirect support during the Middle East crisis. Then it was home to Moscow.

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