Evening star., 1960-08-28
The Sky's the Orotorico| Limit
When Castro Goes on the Air

Marti and numerous attacks upon
Yankee imperialism.
Mr.. Castro never uses a text. He
relies upon his enormous store Of
knowledge and his incredible
memory to see him through. 1t is
quite clear that he seldom knows
at the start what he is going to
say at the end. Or, for that mat
ter, five minutes later. He simply
keeps talking on any subject that
comes to mind.
Bringing in Formers
This was demonstrated in the
Spring of 1859, when a panel
member asked whether it would
be a good idea to bring some of the
Cuban farm people to Havana for
the upcoming 26th of July move
ment. Fidel gazed dreamily into
space and then accepted the sug-
gestion. Immediately he decreed
that 100000 guarijos be brought
to the capital for the holiday. The
number who actually got there
may not have been that large, but
it was close enough.
On another televised program,
Mr.. Castro angrily resigned as
Premier as trick to force Cuban
President Manuel Urrutia out OF
Office. A mob of hot-headed revo-
lutionaries. enfamed by the Prime
Minister'S scathing attack on Mr..
Urrutia, would have murdered the
President had not Mr.. Castro
called them off when Mr. t9Urrutia
hastily agreed to quit. j
On another occasion, Sidel told
the TV audience he had docu-
mentary proof of completely be-
tween the Spanish Embassy in
Havana and certain counter
revolutionarieS Enraged, the Span
ish Ambassador rushed to the STU
dio to protest.
Scene in Studies
Persons in Washington who were
listening to the radio broadcast
heard the Ambassadors voice at
the door. Let me through" the
diplomat demanded. Fidel was Sur-
priSed but told the crowd to make
way for the envoy. He asked by
what authority the Ambassador
had come. The Spaniard said Mr..
Castro had insulted his govern
ment and he insisted upon the
right to answer.
The radio listeners heard the
uproar that followed - voices
shouting Hit him!" Hold him
back" Get him out of here"
Someone seized a microphone and
said. Nov, here is Joe Louis"
AS quickly as if the national an
them had begun to play, the noise
subsided. The former heavyweight
boxing champion got up from
front row seat and congratulated
Prime Minister Castro for his han
ding of the incident. Next. Presi-
dent Osvaldo Dorticos announced
the Ambassador would have just
a hours to get out of Cuba. Then
Fidel returned to answer ques-
tons, but mainly to talk, for two
hours more.
Imagine the President of the
United States. or the head of any
ether government. becoming in
volved in such an incident or
rambling On for hours in the
middle of the night!
And imagine what fate would
befall the Cuban who did to Mr..
Castro what Lewis w. Shollen-
berger of the CHS special events
staff here, once did to President
Eisenhower: cut him off the air.
Presidential Cutoff
The President was delivering
the principal speech at Repub-
lican rally in Denver during the
1854 congressional election cam
paign. The speakers who pre-
ceded him on the air consumed
so much time that Mr.. EiSen-
. hover had little time left. The
President skipped large sections
of his prepared speech but despite
his efforts to finish on time, he
missed Mr.. Shollenberger. the
man who had to act, cut the
President off as required on paid
political programs.
With dictatorial control over
his own broadcasting systems Mr..
Castro encounters no such prob
lem. To some persons who watch
him frequently, however, he ap-
pears to have cause for worry.
The poorer Cubans, who revere
the Prime Minister as a savior
and man who has taught them
much in his TV appearances, still
gather in large clusters before
teleVlsion sets in bodegas and bars
to hear him. But in the residen-
tial areas, where upper and mid
ole class Cubans have their own
TV sets, the lights no longer burn
late into the night when Fidel
is on the air. They are not listen
ing.