Comandante (2003) - full transcript
Comandante is a political documentary film by American director Oliver Stone. In the film, Stone interviews Cuban leader Fidel Castro on a diverse range of topics. Stone and his film crew visited Castro in Cuba for three days in 2002, and the film was released in 2003, having its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival early that year.
In February 2002, an independent
unit interviewed Fidel Castro.
He was offered the power
to cut and erase at any time.
Over the course of 3 days and nights
Mr. Castro never chose to cut.
What follows is culled
from 30 hours of conversation.
First films of Cuban rebel leader
Fidel Castro.
Castro's plan of action
to fight by any means until
the Batista regime is toppled.
Behind Batista stand
the army, the police and,
apparently, Cuba's labor unions.
Batista seemed upset
about reports in the American press
of police brutality
and corruption but confident
in the face of
an unpredictable future.
This is the band
that for 16 months
has held out in the rugged
Sierra Maestre mountains
near the island's eastern tip.
Ill-supplied, they make
many of their weapons
in crude jungle workshops.
The ragged, underfed,
poorly-armed rebels
cut off communications
and supply lines
in a campaign of sniping
and sabotage. Castro himself
has become a figure of legend
since he invaded Oriente province
from a small boat.
It is
an unequal battle of idealists
against tough professional forces.
Says Castro, “If I lose,
PH start over again.
If Batista loses,
he loses for good.“
JANUARY 1959, HAVANA, CUBA
Tyranny
has been vanquished.
The joy is overwhelming.
Nevertheless,
there is still much to do.
Our political philosophy
is representative
democracy
and social justice
in a well-planned
ECONOMY.
The Cuban revolution.
It was a small island,
a small revolution.
But it goes through time.
There is a discrepancy...
A small island,
a big revolution.
If today you had not succeeded,
would you be on a soapbox
now in the park,
talking about revolution?
No, I would be dead.
When we have
fulfilled our promise
of a new government,
I will cut my beard.
Let me take a closer look
at myself.
If I get close...
Let me see
where it looks best.
You guys
should do what your boss says.
And me too.
PALACE OF THE REVOLUTION,
HAVANA, CUBA
At any point, if he says "Cut"
or I say "Cut"
or we both say "Cut"...
either one,
you stop and we'll talk.
Maybe he wants to go again,
like an actor.
He gets a second take
and let's go again.
This is an acting exercise
that he will fail.
And after that we'll go into
a completely spontaneous mode.
Okay, action.
Commander, it's late
but you need to sign these.
What are you saying?
I can sign just a few.
With just a few we'll move ahead.
What's the longest
he's written recently?
The longest things I've written
recently are speeches for T.V.
You don't write poetry?
No, but when I write,
I like the words
to have a certain harmony.
I like combining words
so there's a cadence, a rhythm,
when I write them down.
I could produce so much more
by talking.
Who knows the thousands
of episodes, anecdotes, I've told.
How much of your day
is spent on administrative,
how much on
creative and how much of your day
is spent on physical maintenance?
The least possible on
administrative matters.
The most on speaking with comrades,
discussing different issues.
Is that creative?
Yes, because we find
solutions to problems.
One should...
gather information.
Get to know problems.
And try to find solutions.
- There are all kinds of problems.
-What about maintenance?
I don't waste
any time shaving.
I once calculated...
the meaning...
that I saved months
of my life that way...
Assuming it takes
15 minutes to shave.
When I was...
a young man...
I spent a lot of time on sports.
The pleasure of sport.
Nowadays, the maintenance I do
is to stay healthy.
This office is my track.
I measure the number of steps.
Can you show us a circle?
Right away.
First,
I look at my watch...
I check my pulse.
Then...
I start walking.
He counts his steps...
it's like a prisoner a bit.
I've no other choice.
I'm a prisoner.
When I come in here...
this is a cell.
When he gets bad news,
how does he take it?
Good news...
I receive calmly,
even though
it makes me happy.
That's for sure.
As for bad news,
I'm used to that.
Doesn't it hurt the same?
Some news is harder to take.
For example, one day...
I remember when I received
the news of my mother's death,
I felt very deep pain.
And when Che died.
(1928-1967) Ernesto “Che“ Guevara, Commander
of the Cuban Revolution, killed in Bolivia.
There are moments of grief...
not only about news
but also about events
you are involved in.
He must have been frustrated in
the Elian Gonzalez in Miami affair.
Well,
that was the first time
we claimed someone.
Illegal actions
have happened all the time.
We committed ourselves to a fight
to win a battle that was not
juridical...
but political.
I had a special feeling then.
When we first received
the father's request
to claim his son,
I saw that from
the legal point of view
we would never get support.
But first I needed to know
what the father was like.
Because to take on
a battle like that,
I needed justification.
Eight times
the couple tried to have a baby.
It was their eighth attempt.
They cried...
I felt so sorry for them.
And I realized...
the cause was just,
that every effort should be made.
And I was not wrong.
I know that you don't use
psychiatrists very much.
In all the grief he's had
in his life, has he ever felt
that he wanted to talk
to a psychiatrist?
That's never crossed my mind.
- Never crossed your mind?
-Never.
Perhaps it's something
to do with self-confidence.
Quite honestly, I've never
been asked that.
Oliver...
perhaps it's because
ever since I was a child
I had to solve
important problems by myself.
I was sent to Santiago
de Cuba when I was
5 or 6 years old.
That was my first hard experience.
I got used to solving
my own problems.
So he said he became strong
in his head and his heart
because his mother abandoned him?
No, she was my ally,
when I demanded to be sent
to boarding school.
My father
owned a lot of land.
That was their livelihood.
But I
demanded to be sent there.
In the strongest possible terms.
When I was in my second year
at university,
I joined an expedition
to overthrow
Trujillo in Santo Domingo.
Was he willing
to die at this age?
Yes.
Was he tortured?
They wanted to torture me.
But I was never tortured...
After he was arrested,
why didn't Batista shoot him?
He knew he was a leader.
He knew we didn't have
a penny, nor any resources.
They underestimated...
They underestimated us.
Do you believe in destiny or fate?
I do not believe in destiny.
To paraphrase
Napoleon,
"The moment my destiny
is over, I can be broken
by a puff of wind
or a match."
What does he think?
I do not think like that.
If I thought like that,
it would appear as if I had arrived
at the end of my destiny.
But we have never given up
our fight.
Not for one second.
And the day
I die, whatever the reason,
I would not think...
that it was destiny...
that ended my work.
I would think that
even after my death...
I believe today...
in the future of Cuba,
in the future of our cause.
And perhaps that is the test.
Why Hemingway?
He was a winner for Fidel?
Yes, I admire Hemingway very much.
But Hemingway
blew his brains out.
According to his philosophy.
If he were Salvador Allende and
they were closing in on his palace,
would he commit suicide?
I would fight
to the death.
And if the situation were such
that my gun stopped working
or I didn't have...
Yes, my decision would be to die.
There's no doubt in my mind.
At that moment
did he believe in God?
I have never been a believer.
Simply...
because the methods used
in school to persuade me
regarding religion
were dogmatic methods.
So this is one life
and it's over?
I am totally
convinced of that.
Which version of your life would you
like to see for the closing chapter?
Version one...
You're a grandfather,
many children...
the benevolent patriarch,
loved by the people,
you die in bed...
it's a great life.
Or...
the new world order happens,
they throw Fidel in chains.
With billions of people watching,
you give the most eloquent defense
of human rights and dignity...
ever heard.
What would you do?
Version one or version two?
Neither.
I always try to be as rational
as possible in my thinking.
I have an idea
of how relative glory can be.
Look... Jose Marti
expressed it in a phrase.
"All the glory in the world
fits in a grain of corn."
I have never thought about glory...
never given a thought to how
I want to be remembered.
History is relative.
Mankind could become extinct...
the sun could die out...
So what is...
fame
and celebrity worth?
One day, none of that will exist.
Is the 21st century going to be
about the new world order or not?
If it is not attained
relatively soon,
then...
our species will vanish.
We cannot go on
destroying the environment
and keep on wasting
Ol-ll" natural resources
and destroying
man's living conditions.
There's no need
even for mathematics there.
Simple arithmetics
would show
that either present problems
must be solved
or mankind will not
be able to survive
the new century we are beginning.
I am inclined to believe
that rationality will prevail
and mankind will survive.
But in a short period of time...
within 40 or 50 years,
there will be
almost 10 billion people on earth...
It would not be
worthwhile living on the planet
we are being left with.
Fidel doesn't believe that the war
on drugs will ever
be licked, does he?
I think society is defenseless
against drugs.
We have managed
to protect ourselves...
from drugs entering.
We have reduced
drug abuse to a minimum.
Cuba has one of the lowest rates
of drug abuse...
I think that natural drugs
will soon be replaced
by artificial ones,
much cheaper to manufacture,
like ecstasy.
Is revolution possible
against the new world order?
A change.
Let's call it a "change."
The present order, to my mind,
is unsustainable.
Would he like to see
McDonald's here in Havana?
Number one...
The Cuban Electric Company.
Number twenty-four...
The United Fruit Company.
I have been critical...
But it would be more
justified than in India.
It is an example...
of the tendency towards
a homogeneous culture
and the destruction
of cultural identity.
One culture emanating from
the one nation that has power
and the monopoly of the media.
It was perfectly well-planned.
And it': a perfectly
well-known story.
For many years now
the imperialists,
when they realized
that one day
the colonies would be liberated,
started organizing
their movements.
Cabinda province is rich
with oil.
That is one of the reasons
why the imperialists want
to take over Angola.
So they organized the F.L.N.A.,
using people from the CIA.
Some imperialists ask
why the Cubans help the Angolans...
what our interests there are.
They think that
when a country acts
it is only for oil, copper,
diamonds or other natural resources.
No.
Our interests are not
materialistic.
And the imperialists
obviously can't understand that.
Their criteria is based solely
on chauvinistic, nationalistic,
selfish reasons.
We are carrying out
an internationalist duty
in helping the people of Angola.
That is a nice one.
We have about 120 paintings.
We did not go to the museum...
This one,
look what this man did.
Portocarrero.
That's the city, isn't it?
He paints that a lot.
The swamp...
this is the mainland.
The swamp.
So what do you watch here?
Very little lately.
I have not been to the movies
in the last 10 years.
I have been too busy.
Not even a holiday...
Since the collapse
of the socialist model...
when we were left
in a sort of special period
of hardship and double blockade...
I have not taken a single holiday.
Did he see "Gladiator"?
I think I saw it, on video.
Did he see "Titanic"?
"Titanic," yes, I've seen it.
On video too.
It's a movie to see
on a big screen.
Yes, it was an interesting movie,
as a show.
When you were a young man... What
actresses were you in love with?
Almost all of them,
but now I cannot remember...
- I cannot remember the names.
-Rita Hayworth?
Sophia... the Italian girl.
Yes, Sophia Loren.
She was one of the many
I liked.
Brigitte Bardot
can count me
as one of her admirers.
What men did he like?
Charlie Chaplin.
I can watch all his movies.
I could see them all again.
Movies with Cantinflas,
they still seem new to me.
Depardieu...
I've seen some of his movies.
When he played Louis XIV's chef,
he had to put on
a lot of weight.
But he put on so much
that he stayed fat.
He's the funniest man...
I've met him several times.
There's one scene in life
which is very powerful.
When...
I think it was right around the 59,
one half million people were
in a square, shouting
"Fidel.
Fidel, Fidel."
And I realized that you...
that you were speaking for the
Revolution and it's not personal but
it must have been
a great moment in your life.
You experience
satisfaction when you see
the support of the people,
but...
it seems that
in the last few years,
since the child was kidnapped,
we had here...
mass rallies,
larger than... in the first years
of the Revolution.
Here is a strong man,
he doesn't go to a psychiatrist...
This is the final justification.
Now I'll look bad,
I'll look like a liar.
And I've told the truth.
Because the theory of
the strong man and the weak man
has not... been raised.
I do not read everything they
write about me in the U.S.
One knows what one should read.
Tomorrow we can talk about weak men,
and his weaknesses and his regrets.
My answer to that question
may be rather subjective.
I'm usually very self-critical.
Not so much regarding
the things I have done,
or the mistakes I have made...
but of the things that could
have been done better.
I'd even say we are
sometimes ashamed
of things we have done,
even though I feel we have done
10 times better than any other
Latin American country.
We found a country that
had a 30% illiteracy rate,
60% functional illiterates.
And it is probably an exaggeration
to say that
10% of the people
were well-educated.
At the time of the victory
of the Revolution,
there must have been...
between 30,000 and 40,000
university graduates.
Today there are
over 700,000 graduates.
One of the Revolution's
greatest advances
is that even prostitutes
are graduates.
You know how many
prostitutes there were
before the Revolution?
-100,000.
-And now?
Very few.
However, one is aware that
we could have done better.
Above all when you see all
the possibilities.
He says it would be better
if you come on this side.
Over here.
I'll do it, I'll do it.
No, no... Fidel, I'll do it.
Here we have cigars.
- I don't know what's in there.
-I do not smoke any more.
Could be candies.
- I can tell it's an old box.
-I haven't smoked for 17 years.
Candies!
Very good.
I think I see a pistol.
Yes, that's all.
There is a book over there.
I moved my gun from there...
or there'd have been
no room for you.
Oh, yes.
You know how to use it, Fidel?
Perhaps I still remember.
Let me see what
you have over there.
What someone gave me.
"The Round Table."
"The Round Table."
And that is a book.
It's an old book.
He doesn't read up to date.
Just as well I don't bring
secret papers with me.
They would have been exposed.
Do people know that he's
in this car? Is he spottable?
Yes, everybody knows.
Does he like
to drive around at night?
More in the past.
Because I was less
of a slave
to my office.
I traveled around a lot.
Was he shocked or not when he found
out that Kennedy had an open car...
no... the security? The windows
were open on all the parade route.
The car was driving very slow.
Was he surprised by that?
I always had my doubts
because when you shoot
with a telescopic sight
it's hard to hit the target
from such a distance.
When you fire the gun moves
and you have to re-aim.
You couldn't fire
several times in a row.
I have never believed
the theory about the lone gunman.
One well-aimed shot
is all he could have managed.
A conspiracy seems very likely.
Then there's that strange thing
about the presumed assassin dying
of sadness and honor...
It's hard to explain it all.
Are we going into the crowd? No
questions... We just walk and talk?
The idea is to visit
the school in a few minutes.
Shall I leave my bag here?
- If...
-It's safe?
If there are no secret papers,
you can leave it.
- Where are you from?
-Nicaragua.
- Venezuela.
-Guatemala.
Bolivia.
Is tuition very low?
It's all free.
Both for Americans and for
all the international students.
American Dominican.
Thank you for coming.
American Dominican.
Oliver.
American Dominican.
- Where are you from?
-I'm from New York City, Manhattan.
- Trini Martinez from Oregon.
-Oregon. How's it going?
And you?
El Salvador.
She's from Argentina.
You'll become a doctor,
go back to New York?
Yes.
Do you have planned parenthood
and abortion here?
Yes, abortion is legal.
When it was illegal
in the years before the Revolution,
illegal abortion was very common.
With terrible consequences
for the health. Many women died.
Now it is the woman's choice.
So you don't have women who are
having 7 or 8 children anymore?
That's not very common now
as women are more educated.
They play a part in society.
I think we've
spoiled their classes.
You know, it's the uniform.
If you came down with a pair of
Bermuda shorts, American flip-flops
and an ugly T-shirt...
nobody would notice him.
It's just a joke.
He doesn't smile.
We will show...
the security people
how to do their job.
So that when Bush comes...
If he travels here, you're
in trouble. I can tell you that.
No problems.
We'd take care of him.
No, he'll take care of you.
You'll be in the prison.
He'll be back in prison.
You can be sure of that.
Is Gorbachev
a hero of his or not?
He was...
He had...
good intentions.
That country needed improvements,
not destruction.
Which Russian leader
cut off the aid to Cuba?
The Soviet leader
who cut off aid to Cuba was...
the U.S. government.
Understand?
I'll explain.
When the USSR collapsed
aid was interrupted.
Gorbachev was there.
But he was less powerful.
We had some agreements
from before him
which expired when he was leader.
He was drinking with...
Khrushchev, he was drinking
with Brezhnev, he was drinking
with Yeltsin...
All three are major drinkers.
Did he drink with them?
No, it was difficult
to compete with Yeltsin.
Which of these men
amused him most?
I got on with Khrushchev best.
Khrushchev was
the shrewd peasant type.
He was the one who...
initiated cooperation
with Cuba and felt sympathy
for Cuba.
Revolution is
for any country the most violent
means of change,
bringing as it does
death, destruction and hatred.
The Cuban Revolution
ruled out one dictator,
but it produced another...
Fidel Castro.
Little did
the Cuban people suspect
that Castro would betray
their cause and deliver them
into the hands
of the most ruthless
of all tyrannies...
into the iron grip of communism.
When you were in
the guerrilla army up in the jungle,
did anybody get fed up,
anybody was like pissed off
and wanted to quit?
Of course.
Did people say, "This Castro
doesn't know what he's doing."?
But nobody ever complained about
the Castros directly.
Some complained about...
the hardships of the struggle,
the great effort...
what we would have at the end.
Who inspired them?
We were inspired by
Cuban pro-independents,
who were brave fighters.
Maximo Gomez, Marti,
Maceo, who organized an invasion...
30 years with machetes and horses...
They were
our inspiration throughout.
The tactics we used were
the result of observation
and meditation
and of inspiration.
Tell me about Nixon.
The first time I met him
was in March 1959.
He was Vice President.
We talked...
I explained our situation to him,
shared my ideas with him...
And he immediately
drafted a report.
He wrote...
that I was...
a communist.
At that time,
to talk about land reform
identified you as a communist.
From the very beginning
he gave me the impression
of being a hypocrite...
a small-minded politician...
vain.
Furthermore, it was he
who recommended that
an expedition be organized
to destroy us.
At what point did he actually
in his own thinking commit to the
Soviet Union as an ally
and antagonize
the United States?
One: when
we were deprived
of the sugar quota
and were left
without a sugar market,
and when the oil supply
was cut off.
That was a political
economic moment.
There was a sense of gratitude...
It was not yet
a political commitment...
nor military.
But the fact is
that the expedition was already
being organized
in Guatemala
for the invasion.
And so we started requesting
the purchase of weapons
from the Soviet Union.
Kennedy inherited
the Eisenhower administration's
plans to invade Cuba.
Plans in an advanced stage.
Hardly 2 months passed before
everything was under way.
Kennedy did not have
much experience.
He trusted the U.S. institutions
too much.
These charges
are totally false
and I deny them categorically.
The United States has committed
no aggression against Cuba,
and no offensive
has been launched from Florida
or from any
other part of the United States.
Actually...
the reason for the missiles here
was that the Soviets
had information
that there was a plan
to invade Cuba.
Khrushchev had made
a deep commitment to Cuba.
Even at the time
of the invasion he made
very strong statements.
He spoke about
strategic missiles, implying
that Cuba would be supported.
And there was a moral factor
that had to be considered.
We did not like the idea...
We would have taken
whatever risks were necessary
rather than
appear as a Soviet military base
in the Western hemisphere.
So, from the military
point of view,
things were very bad.
They'd allowed the Americans
to use their surveillance planes
to survey the whole area
and locate the missiles.
They put our country
in great danger. We...
thought we would be obliterated.
We would be the first to disappear.
Your critics in America
and the historians
continue to say that
in the October 26th letter
to Khrushchev
you called for nuclear war.
Socialism or death.
It's been interpreted that way.
I did not ask them to attack.
I said,
"If this country is attacked...
If this country is attacked
with 40,000 Soviet troops..."
There was an agreement...
My conviction was that
after the invasion,
the Americans would not
take long to launch an attack.
We did not have
a Russian translator.
There was an ambassador
who spoke Spanish
very poorly. So,
that note, I...
I doubt
that he received a clear message.
I can only imagine
what the ambassador translated.
After,
Khrushchev sent me a letter
defending himself
from my accusations.
He said he had obtained a guarantee
from the U.S. not to invade Cuba.
A verbal guarantee.
And he said we had suggested
a first strike.
We will not prematurely
or unnecessarily
risk the course
of worldwide nuclear war
in which even the fruits
of victory would be
ashes in our mouth.
But neither will we shrink
from that risk
at any time it must be faced.
Kennedy committed himself.
He believed it because...
It was a game of words.
Khrushchev resorted to
the naive and superficial notion...
of the intentions behind
those weapons...
He said he had no intention
of using them, for him...
That was the argument he used.
Mr. Castro could not
have pushed the trigger?
No, if we had done nothing...
we were afraid that they would
be destroyed.
And we would be left
with all the radioactivity.
What should Khrushchev
have asked for Cuba?
The return of Guantanamo base.
An end to the blockade.
An end to the terrorist attacks...
Five points.
I think the sticking point for
Kennedy was that if Cuba existed as
a Socialist model in the hemisphere
it would have been dangerous.
The Russians understood that.
So they put
their own interests first.
Yes, and I wrote about that.
They could not
have won the point
because America
would always hate Cuba...
Great tension
was created worldwide.
No one in the world was willing
to have a nuclear war
over a military base there.
Or an economic blockade of Cuba.
No one would have gone
to war for that.
And we were new...
We could not pretend
to have more experience.
We didn't understand
the balance of power,
what military might they had...
At the time of the invasion,
the Revolution was 2 years old.
At the time of
the missile crisis, 3 years.
I think that we did
what we had to do.
And we did it relatively well.
But I do not think
we could have known
how erratic
our friends and allies
could be.
They did not understand
the Third World.
Nor the theater of operations.
They only thought about tank
brigades, artillery,
motorized infantry,
conventional troops.
And irregular warfare
cannot be fought
with conventional troops.
They are only for parades.
But we engaged
in irregular warfare
and we defeated our enemies.
If Mr. Castro knew
that the CIA
had been behind the coup
of 54, then he had
more reason not to trust
the United States.
Especially knowing how the United
States had acted historically.
But many...
It was not the only intervention.
There was Santo Domingo...
And in Central America
on several occasions.
The CIA already existed,
of course.
And he knew all this?
Yes, everyone knew about it.
Except Americans.
Because they told
the Americans one thing...
That it was
a Communist government,
and a danger to
the national security of the U.S.
And that is a sacred expression.
Whenever it is invoked,
there is a reaction.
A conditioned reflex.
"Such and such a thing
is a threat to national security."
Affecting homeland security.
National security...
That word is sacred.
In Vietnam there were always
stories about Cuban advisers.
No, it was Cubans
who were studying the Vietnamese.
To get experience.
How many Cubans were there?
Never more than 20, I think.
I can't be completely sure.
But I know it was
a very small group.
Later it was said
that there were
security advisers there.
And that they had taken part
in the torturing of prisoners.
And I tell you that
that is
absolutely untrue.
I read the POW accounts
in Hanoi.
We're talking about...
I would assume two dozen men
who claim there was a Cuban
who at first...
at first watched...
but then participated
in the beatings.
It was very brutal.
If that were true,
I assure you we would
have had them tried in a court.
Believe us or not,
I assure you that
in 43 years of Revolution
never have we tortured anyone.
It's a principle
of ours since the way.
That was what Batista used to do,
and we would never
resort to those methods.
The Vietnamese did not want
any foreigners
among their troops.
They never asked
the Chinese for help.
They never asked the Russians.
Oh, yes, they were very zealous...
Deeply nationalistic.
And the Vietnamese
were not criminals.
The Vietnamese did not
execute their prisoners.
There was quite
a bit of brutality.
Well...
He must know more than me.
You know that we
were invaded by 1,500 men.
We took 1,200 prisoners.
In fighting which lasted 68 hours
there were hundreds of wounded.
Over 100 casualties.
We were attacked
by surprise,
by planes with Cuban insignias.
That was the source
of our... indignation.
And rage.
A great deal of rage.
You tell me if any
of those 1,200 prisoners...
I myself went...
I arrived there...
Ask Almeida,
ask anybody.
Go into the streets...
and ask if they have ever
heard about torture.
It does not fit in
with the way we think.
I would not have the morality
to criticize anybody.
What about the Huberto Matos case?
Well...
what he did was very risky.
He was a real coward.
He was in the war
for the last 8 months.
Minimal war merits...
He wanted to get
the regiment to rebel.
The trial
was here.
I went to it,
with all the documents.
And he was sentenced to 25 years.
It was an act of treachery.
A dangerous act.
Do you think
we should walk around?
The light's going.
They should tell us to go
somewhere open and not too crazy.
Wherever we go,
it will be like that.
- It has to be a surprise.
-...the Hemingway bar?
I'll take you,
I'll be your guide.
Now he will be the guide.
He will be your tourist guide.
And we say to Mr. Reagan...
that we are not afraid
of his threats.
What is a dictator?
Does anyone really know?
Is it bad to be a dictator?
Because I've seen the U.S.
governments, for example,
being very friendly with
the greatest dictators.
Marx speaks of the dictatorship
of the proletariate.
Not of personal dictatorship.
I have always tried
to solve basic problems
through persuasion
and moral authority.
You will not find a picture
over the last 43 years
of police
oppressing the people.
People all over the world call him
the "movie star dictator."
What don't they like?
Do they say I'm a bad actor?
The new Evita Perén, in a way?
Nobody denies
the real achievements.
I have heard
some strange things about me.
But...
I don't see any similarity.
I do believe that Evita Perén
genuinely felt for
the cause of her people.
And that the people
responded to her.
And she had almost more support
than Perén.
It doesn't offend me
if you make comparisons with her.
I did not borrow
my ideas from anyone.
I have always done
my job, my duty...
I admit I am a dictator...
a dictator to myself.
I am a dictator to myself,
a slave
of the people.
That's what I am.
Carlos shot a documentary
in the barrios here,
in Cuba, Havana.
He says that in every block...
the blocks that he was shooting,
there was always
one informant type,
who reports...
So people have to be cool
and they have to conform.
It was his imagination.
What we did today...
What we did today,
we could do
in any neighborhood.
On any street in Havana.
We can go by ourselves.
And today you saw me
order the head of the bodyguards
to get out of the car.
But he's not there.
The small-time people
drive everyone nuts, right?
At school there's always a squealer
who makes trouble for the people.
All states have a bureaucracy.
And people who do different things.
Maybe he's got to
simplify the system
so that these guys
don't get rewarded.
I don't like giving...
These are different things...
It's not giving orders,
it's persuading people.
I have been accused
of talking too much,
but I like to persuade people.
I don't use complicated terms.
I converse with people.
It's hard for me to keep still.
What started the universe?
Was there an organizing principle?
I think that most things
are yet to be known.
We're only beginning to understand
the organism, cells,
genes.
The Pope said recently
that the theory of evolution
is not...
incompatible
with the doctrine of creation.
The Pope also says...
he doesn't talk about hell,
he talks about fear of God.
Is he an atheist?
I do not believe.
I do not believe in all
that man has created.
You're an atheist but
you receive the Pope graciously.
Do you believe
that religion is an opiate
for the people?
It all depends.
If religion is used
to create values,
to do good, to comfort people,
then it is not opium.
But if religious beliefs
are used to defend a bad cause,
then it becomes opium.
Religion gives consolation
to many people,
human beings have
a tendency to believe.
What is the meaning of your life?
I feel satisfied with it,
of having done what I have done.
It gives me pleasure
when we advance in new ideas.
I feel absolute tranquility
with the work done
by the Revolution.
I would not
change it for anything.
Does he feel that life's meaning,
the meaning of life
for human beings,
is to bring one closer
to understanding oneself?
Life is a matter
of acquiring values,
of acquiring knowledge.
Of doing something
worthwhile with your life.
To practice self-control?
Yes.
Everything we do
is to give real possibilities
to the people,
to help them to develop
their full potential.
In the field of education,
of health...
the cultivation of values.
Che!
One of the most
admirable things about Fidel
is that of being
a historical figure, a paradigm
who is constantly referring
to past experiences.
But he is still of the present.
And he tells us how
the future is going to be.
People don't live forever.
Man's genetic potential
is 120 years.
Turtles, 300 years.
Could we modify genes
and live longer?
It would be better.
Research...
could lead to the fountain
of youth but I think
that if men
could live for 500 years,
they would get terribly bored.
So he would live forever?
No. Because the mind
is used to the idea
that there is
a limited amount of time.
Tell him Viagra will help.
Help me to think?
As doctors say, it boosts
the circulation of the blood.
- I could be a CIA agent.
-That's right.
Then they would say, "Oliver
went to Havana to deliver Viagra."
They might think that it would
help to kill this enemy with
a heart attack.
He'd get the decorations
he didn't get in Vietnam.
Were you decorated in Vietnam?
Were you wounded in combat?
Yes, he was decorated.
You were wounded twice?
That is the courage you now need
to do what you are doing.
Who's going to come after you?
That... all depends
on whether it is
in 20 years' time...
or 10 years' time...
or 6 months' time...
As I have always been in danger
of being assassinated,
since the Revolution,
I believe I have the authority
to go on with the Revolution.
It will not be easy.
I have more confidence
in the ideas,
in the political culture
of our people,
than in men.
You love her, don't you?
I mean she's your wife,
almost an alter-ego.
- Who is he talking about?
-"Her." That's me.
Yes.
She's been
my translator for years.
I know. your minds...
You must be husband and wife.
How long have you been here?
Almost 30 years.
Almost 30 years.
Very often...
she knows what I'm thinking
and she goes ahead of me.
What about in his heart?
Does he love you?
Yes.
In my heart, yes.
What is he getting at?
I want him
to acknowledge his heart.
Yes, he wants to know everything.
It is hard to get away
from his questioning.
- You love him though.
-Yes, of course, I love him too.
I asked earlier if
you had a picture of Dalia.
I have some pictures.
But it does not seem
proper to show them.
That is what
I have always believed.
The other girls are visible. Is it
that her pictures are hard to find?
Which other girls?
Nati... the first wife...
Mirta.
Cecilia.
There are some names
I do not recognize.
There must be a mistake.
No, one was Nati.
Nati, I know her.
Celia Sénchez?
I know Celia Sénchez.
And the first wife.
Yes, but you said before
"Cecilia" instead of Celia.
- It's a different name in Spanish.
-Let me say...
it has always been
a habit with me
that I don't think I have a right
to talk about relationships
I have had with ladies.
That is my first rule.
Not even with
the mother of his sons?
She may be the mother
of my sons and she may not be.
Well, she's married officially, no?
No.
A formality I have avoided.
I married once.
I did not need to again.
So...
really...
when you asked me about Mirta...
She knew she was marrying
a revolutionary.
Why do people say
Celia was the great love?
She was an extraordinary woman.
It was a different
kind of relationship.
And I've never talked about that.
It has not been
a life without love.
It has has been a life...
with love.
It is a story I do not
have the right to make public.
He reminds me of my father.
For that generation,
it's a little bit
harder to talk about
private affairs.
Fidelito.
- Hello, Fidel Junior.
-Hi.
That': a very good-looking puppy
you have there. ls he yours?
No, somebody
gave it to my father.
Has he been a good father?
I mean he's been so busy.
Politically, as a revolutionary,
I refuse to mix
my family with politics.
Really, the idea of First Ladies...
seems ridiculous to me.
The time I have devoted
to my children
has not been so much.
If you measure
my being a good father
by time spent with them,
then perhaps
I have not been a good father.
But I am capable of feeling...
and I do feel for them
even though I do not spend
all day with them.
When I am with them
I try to make the most of
the time we have together.
Why, if Mr. Castro...
I feel he's very popular
with young people, a new generation
70 or 80 percent...?
Why not have an election now?
That is the wrong
question.
Because it is based
on the assumption
that there is no
electoral system in Cuba,
and that there
are no elections here.
Possibly
our elections are much more
democratic than in other countries.
He should study
our electoral system,
the participation
of all our citizens,
who elect delegates
from every region.
The Party
does not put up candidates.
It is the citizens who choose.
You cannot start
from the assumption
that there are no elections.
What about the government's
discrimination
against homosexuals?
At the beginning
in this country there was
a machista spirit...
machista...
and prejudice.
Over the years
that has declined
to the point where
there is practically
no kind of problem.
It has been difficult due to
our male-dominated heritage.
What about the black population?
Well...
the black population
is the poorest.
But it also benefited most
from the Revolution.
Thanks to him,
I have what I have.
"I have what I should have,"
as Nicolas Guillén said.
Thanks to him.
Believe me, from my heart...
They are the most revolutionary.
Are there any black
political leaders?
Yes, we have black
political leaders,
but we are still not satisfied.
I think that we have still not
achieved the true possibility
of equal opportunities.
What's going to happen
in Colombia right now?
There came a point
where the ceasefire was broken...
and negotiations
were broken off.
And this may lead to
a very bloody war.
So he sees another Vietnam?
What I see is a civil war.
I could not
compare it to Vietnam
because events do not take place
in exactly the same way.
Without any doubt it will be
complicated as there
are different forces.
If there is a power structure
that runs the world,
would you want Nelson Mandela
to have a neutron bomb?
No. I know something about that...
My deepest conviction
is that
he does not even know
where those weapons are.
I spoke with Mandela about that.
I asked him what he knew
about those nuclear weapons.
And what the military had told him.
Where were they? And he said,
that he'd been told
that they had been destroyed,
that they had been disarmed.
There's a movie in America now
showing America as powerful,
America patriotic, nationalistic...
fighting wars against
terrorism...
drugs...
The army is very scary,
the weapons are very scary.
Where is this going?
That's the same question
many of us ask.
I think that the world
will become more
and more ungovernable.
It is impossible
to establish a world order
based on force.
The solution to the world's
problems is not a military one.
I have the hope
that the American people
will play a decisive role
in defending changes
for a more humane order.
Che said many Vietnams
will bring down America.
From a strategic point
of view, his way of thinking
was right.
Not "bring down America."
I never heard Che say
"bring down America."
The U.S. is the U.S. people.
First of all put
an end to corruption,
and put an end
to abuses,
to repression in this hemisphere.
That was Che's first priority.
He meant the fight
against colonialism...
That is what Che meant by that.
People who I have talked to before
told me that Che, he came back
from Africa,
they told me he had
two nervous breakdowns,
and he came back here,
went to a clinic,
he had a 48-hour
meeting with Fidel and then he...
he slammed the door
on the way out
and then he went to Bolivia.
If history is written like that,
then I would never read it again.
Here is a letter
from our comrade
Ernesto Guevara...
“Fidel,
I feel I have fulfilled that part
of my duty
that bound me
to the Cuban Revolution
on its territory
and now [leave you,
the comrades,
and your people,
which is also mine.“
The truth is...
that when he joined us in Mexico
he asked for one thing.
That when the Cuban Revolution
was complete,
he wanted to go on.
And he did not want,
for reasons of state,
us to forbid him to go.
That was the idea he had in mind.
I heard that
he pissed off people.
That he was not a compromiser.
And I heard that
he embarrassed Cuba
because he attacked the Russians and
the Russians were upset with him.
He was critical
of the use
of capitalist categories
to build socialism.
Did the Soviets tell Fidel
to get rid of him, put him away?
Never. That would be
like asking me
to get rid of Raul.
A man would say the motivation
might very well be that he was...
Che goes to Africa,
where he has a mostly successful
experience, comes back
and Cuba must seem
very small to him.
He wants to expand right away.
I sent him to Africa,
and I'll tell you why.
He was very impatient.
He wanted to go
to South America.
I did not believe
that conditions were still right
and that we still had to fulfill
our mission in Africa.
Because
he was very impatient
and guerrillas need to be young.
Some people said
that Fidel could have
put more pressure in Bolivia
to help Che.
That was a combined operation.
It would have taken time.
It was a guerrilla struggle
in its first phase.
When you initiate it,
the terrain, the people
are unfamiliar.
And I wanted him to get
there with the utmost safety.
But differences arose between him...
rivalry on the part of
the leader of the
Communist Party leader.
There were contradictions.
Other lands
call for my modest efforts.
To my children, to my wife,
I do not leave
anything material,
and I do not regret it.
I am happy that it is so.
I do not ask for anything
for them because the state
will provide all they need to live
and to be educated.
I'm going to quote
an actor, Vittorio Gassman.
He was interviewed
when he was 70.
He said,
"Life should be lived twice.
The first time is a rehearsal, and
the second time we'd live for real."
Always back to philosophy.
I wish...
we could think of life
as in two parts.
One part as a rehearsal
and the other part
as the real thing.
It happened to him,
to me, to everyone.
Yes, but there are things
in all our lives...
So possibly twice...
It's enough to be born just once.
Did he make mistakes?
Yes, like everyone.
Life is a process
of learning ideas, values.
We are not born with ideas.
We are not born with values.
We are taught those things.
Or to a certain extent
we teach them to ourselves.
Is there any
specific moment, regret,
political, personal,
that you would just
go back now and change it?
If I were born again...
I would be the same as I am now...
given that I was born
under the same circumstances.
Let us not fool ourselves
into thinking
that what lies ahead will be easy.
Perhaps what lies ahead
will all be
more difficult.
I have
to take you to the airport.
That's my only guarantee.
Let's go.
Oliver, don't waste
another minute.
It's a Mexican plane.
No flowers or gifts,
we'll mail them to you.
Life is good to you.
Same here.
It was good because
it brought you here.
Many, many thanks.
Thank you.
Good luck.
Leave him here
so we can feed him up.
That would be good,
to do some volunteer work.
Those who would give up essential Liberty
to obtain a little temporary Safety
deserve neither Liberty
nor Safety. Benjamin Franklin.
unit interviewed Fidel Castro.
He was offered the power
to cut and erase at any time.
Over the course of 3 days and nights
Mr. Castro never chose to cut.
What follows is culled
from 30 hours of conversation.
First films of Cuban rebel leader
Fidel Castro.
Castro's plan of action
to fight by any means until
the Batista regime is toppled.
Behind Batista stand
the army, the police and,
apparently, Cuba's labor unions.
Batista seemed upset
about reports in the American press
of police brutality
and corruption but confident
in the face of
an unpredictable future.
This is the band
that for 16 months
has held out in the rugged
Sierra Maestre mountains
near the island's eastern tip.
Ill-supplied, they make
many of their weapons
in crude jungle workshops.
The ragged, underfed,
poorly-armed rebels
cut off communications
and supply lines
in a campaign of sniping
and sabotage. Castro himself
has become a figure of legend
since he invaded Oriente province
from a small boat.
It is
an unequal battle of idealists
against tough professional forces.
Says Castro, “If I lose,
PH start over again.
If Batista loses,
he loses for good.“
JANUARY 1959, HAVANA, CUBA
Tyranny
has been vanquished.
The joy is overwhelming.
Nevertheless,
there is still much to do.
Our political philosophy
is representative
democracy
and social justice
in a well-planned
ECONOMY.
The Cuban revolution.
It was a small island,
a small revolution.
But it goes through time.
There is a discrepancy...
A small island,
a big revolution.
If today you had not succeeded,
would you be on a soapbox
now in the park,
talking about revolution?
No, I would be dead.
When we have
fulfilled our promise
of a new government,
I will cut my beard.
Let me take a closer look
at myself.
If I get close...
Let me see
where it looks best.
You guys
should do what your boss says.
And me too.
PALACE OF THE REVOLUTION,
HAVANA, CUBA
At any point, if he says "Cut"
or I say "Cut"
or we both say "Cut"...
either one,
you stop and we'll talk.
Maybe he wants to go again,
like an actor.
He gets a second take
and let's go again.
This is an acting exercise
that he will fail.
And after that we'll go into
a completely spontaneous mode.
Okay, action.
Commander, it's late
but you need to sign these.
What are you saying?
I can sign just a few.
With just a few we'll move ahead.
What's the longest
he's written recently?
The longest things I've written
recently are speeches for T.V.
You don't write poetry?
No, but when I write,
I like the words
to have a certain harmony.
I like combining words
so there's a cadence, a rhythm,
when I write them down.
I could produce so much more
by talking.
Who knows the thousands
of episodes, anecdotes, I've told.
How much of your day
is spent on administrative,
how much on
creative and how much of your day
is spent on physical maintenance?
The least possible on
administrative matters.
The most on speaking with comrades,
discussing different issues.
Is that creative?
Yes, because we find
solutions to problems.
One should...
gather information.
Get to know problems.
And try to find solutions.
- There are all kinds of problems.
-What about maintenance?
I don't waste
any time shaving.
I once calculated...
the meaning...
that I saved months
of my life that way...
Assuming it takes
15 minutes to shave.
When I was...
a young man...
I spent a lot of time on sports.
The pleasure of sport.
Nowadays, the maintenance I do
is to stay healthy.
This office is my track.
I measure the number of steps.
Can you show us a circle?
Right away.
First,
I look at my watch...
I check my pulse.
Then...
I start walking.
He counts his steps...
it's like a prisoner a bit.
I've no other choice.
I'm a prisoner.
When I come in here...
this is a cell.
When he gets bad news,
how does he take it?
Good news...
I receive calmly,
even though
it makes me happy.
That's for sure.
As for bad news,
I'm used to that.
Doesn't it hurt the same?
Some news is harder to take.
For example, one day...
I remember when I received
the news of my mother's death,
I felt very deep pain.
And when Che died.
(1928-1967) Ernesto “Che“ Guevara, Commander
of the Cuban Revolution, killed in Bolivia.
There are moments of grief...
not only about news
but also about events
you are involved in.
He must have been frustrated in
the Elian Gonzalez in Miami affair.
Well,
that was the first time
we claimed someone.
Illegal actions
have happened all the time.
We committed ourselves to a fight
to win a battle that was not
juridical...
but political.
I had a special feeling then.
When we first received
the father's request
to claim his son,
I saw that from
the legal point of view
we would never get support.
But first I needed to know
what the father was like.
Because to take on
a battle like that,
I needed justification.
Eight times
the couple tried to have a baby.
It was their eighth attempt.
They cried...
I felt so sorry for them.
And I realized...
the cause was just,
that every effort should be made.
And I was not wrong.
I know that you don't use
psychiatrists very much.
In all the grief he's had
in his life, has he ever felt
that he wanted to talk
to a psychiatrist?
That's never crossed my mind.
- Never crossed your mind?
-Never.
Perhaps it's something
to do with self-confidence.
Quite honestly, I've never
been asked that.
Oliver...
perhaps it's because
ever since I was a child
I had to solve
important problems by myself.
I was sent to Santiago
de Cuba when I was
5 or 6 years old.
That was my first hard experience.
I got used to solving
my own problems.
So he said he became strong
in his head and his heart
because his mother abandoned him?
No, she was my ally,
when I demanded to be sent
to boarding school.
My father
owned a lot of land.
That was their livelihood.
But I
demanded to be sent there.
In the strongest possible terms.
When I was in my second year
at university,
I joined an expedition
to overthrow
Trujillo in Santo Domingo.
Was he willing
to die at this age?
Yes.
Was he tortured?
They wanted to torture me.
But I was never tortured...
After he was arrested,
why didn't Batista shoot him?
He knew he was a leader.
He knew we didn't have
a penny, nor any resources.
They underestimated...
They underestimated us.
Do you believe in destiny or fate?
I do not believe in destiny.
To paraphrase
Napoleon,
"The moment my destiny
is over, I can be broken
by a puff of wind
or a match."
What does he think?
I do not think like that.
If I thought like that,
it would appear as if I had arrived
at the end of my destiny.
But we have never given up
our fight.
Not for one second.
And the day
I die, whatever the reason,
I would not think...
that it was destiny...
that ended my work.
I would think that
even after my death...
I believe today...
in the future of Cuba,
in the future of our cause.
And perhaps that is the test.
Why Hemingway?
He was a winner for Fidel?
Yes, I admire Hemingway very much.
But Hemingway
blew his brains out.
According to his philosophy.
If he were Salvador Allende and
they were closing in on his palace,
would he commit suicide?
I would fight
to the death.
And if the situation were such
that my gun stopped working
or I didn't have...
Yes, my decision would be to die.
There's no doubt in my mind.
At that moment
did he believe in God?
I have never been a believer.
Simply...
because the methods used
in school to persuade me
regarding religion
were dogmatic methods.
So this is one life
and it's over?
I am totally
convinced of that.
Which version of your life would you
like to see for the closing chapter?
Version one...
You're a grandfather,
many children...
the benevolent patriarch,
loved by the people,
you die in bed...
it's a great life.
Or...
the new world order happens,
they throw Fidel in chains.
With billions of people watching,
you give the most eloquent defense
of human rights and dignity...
ever heard.
What would you do?
Version one or version two?
Neither.
I always try to be as rational
as possible in my thinking.
I have an idea
of how relative glory can be.
Look... Jose Marti
expressed it in a phrase.
"All the glory in the world
fits in a grain of corn."
I have never thought about glory...
never given a thought to how
I want to be remembered.
History is relative.
Mankind could become extinct...
the sun could die out...
So what is...
fame
and celebrity worth?
One day, none of that will exist.
Is the 21st century going to be
about the new world order or not?
If it is not attained
relatively soon,
then...
our species will vanish.
We cannot go on
destroying the environment
and keep on wasting
Ol-ll" natural resources
and destroying
man's living conditions.
There's no need
even for mathematics there.
Simple arithmetics
would show
that either present problems
must be solved
or mankind will not
be able to survive
the new century we are beginning.
I am inclined to believe
that rationality will prevail
and mankind will survive.
But in a short period of time...
within 40 or 50 years,
there will be
almost 10 billion people on earth...
It would not be
worthwhile living on the planet
we are being left with.
Fidel doesn't believe that the war
on drugs will ever
be licked, does he?
I think society is defenseless
against drugs.
We have managed
to protect ourselves...
from drugs entering.
We have reduced
drug abuse to a minimum.
Cuba has one of the lowest rates
of drug abuse...
I think that natural drugs
will soon be replaced
by artificial ones,
much cheaper to manufacture,
like ecstasy.
Is revolution possible
against the new world order?
A change.
Let's call it a "change."
The present order, to my mind,
is unsustainable.
Would he like to see
McDonald's here in Havana?
Number one...
The Cuban Electric Company.
Number twenty-four...
The United Fruit Company.
I have been critical...
But it would be more
justified than in India.
It is an example...
of the tendency towards
a homogeneous culture
and the destruction
of cultural identity.
One culture emanating from
the one nation that has power
and the monopoly of the media.
It was perfectly well-planned.
And it': a perfectly
well-known story.
For many years now
the imperialists,
when they realized
that one day
the colonies would be liberated,
started organizing
their movements.
Cabinda province is rich
with oil.
That is one of the reasons
why the imperialists want
to take over Angola.
So they organized the F.L.N.A.,
using people from the CIA.
Some imperialists ask
why the Cubans help the Angolans...
what our interests there are.
They think that
when a country acts
it is only for oil, copper,
diamonds or other natural resources.
No.
Our interests are not
materialistic.
And the imperialists
obviously can't understand that.
Their criteria is based solely
on chauvinistic, nationalistic,
selfish reasons.
We are carrying out
an internationalist duty
in helping the people of Angola.
That is a nice one.
We have about 120 paintings.
We did not go to the museum...
This one,
look what this man did.
Portocarrero.
That's the city, isn't it?
He paints that a lot.
The swamp...
this is the mainland.
The swamp.
So what do you watch here?
Very little lately.
I have not been to the movies
in the last 10 years.
I have been too busy.
Not even a holiday...
Since the collapse
of the socialist model...
when we were left
in a sort of special period
of hardship and double blockade...
I have not taken a single holiday.
Did he see "Gladiator"?
I think I saw it, on video.
Did he see "Titanic"?
"Titanic," yes, I've seen it.
On video too.
It's a movie to see
on a big screen.
Yes, it was an interesting movie,
as a show.
When you were a young man... What
actresses were you in love with?
Almost all of them,
but now I cannot remember...
- I cannot remember the names.
-Rita Hayworth?
Sophia... the Italian girl.
Yes, Sophia Loren.
She was one of the many
I liked.
Brigitte Bardot
can count me
as one of her admirers.
What men did he like?
Charlie Chaplin.
I can watch all his movies.
I could see them all again.
Movies with Cantinflas,
they still seem new to me.
Depardieu...
I've seen some of his movies.
When he played Louis XIV's chef,
he had to put on
a lot of weight.
But he put on so much
that he stayed fat.
He's the funniest man...
I've met him several times.
There's one scene in life
which is very powerful.
When...
I think it was right around the 59,
one half million people were
in a square, shouting
"Fidel.
Fidel, Fidel."
And I realized that you...
that you were speaking for the
Revolution and it's not personal but
it must have been
a great moment in your life.
You experience
satisfaction when you see
the support of the people,
but...
it seems that
in the last few years,
since the child was kidnapped,
we had here...
mass rallies,
larger than... in the first years
of the Revolution.
Here is a strong man,
he doesn't go to a psychiatrist...
This is the final justification.
Now I'll look bad,
I'll look like a liar.
And I've told the truth.
Because the theory of
the strong man and the weak man
has not... been raised.
I do not read everything they
write about me in the U.S.
One knows what one should read.
Tomorrow we can talk about weak men,
and his weaknesses and his regrets.
My answer to that question
may be rather subjective.
I'm usually very self-critical.
Not so much regarding
the things I have done,
or the mistakes I have made...
but of the things that could
have been done better.
I'd even say we are
sometimes ashamed
of things we have done,
even though I feel we have done
10 times better than any other
Latin American country.
We found a country that
had a 30% illiteracy rate,
60% functional illiterates.
And it is probably an exaggeration
to say that
10% of the people
were well-educated.
At the time of the victory
of the Revolution,
there must have been...
between 30,000 and 40,000
university graduates.
Today there are
over 700,000 graduates.
One of the Revolution's
greatest advances
is that even prostitutes
are graduates.
You know how many
prostitutes there were
before the Revolution?
-100,000.
-And now?
Very few.
However, one is aware that
we could have done better.
Above all when you see all
the possibilities.
He says it would be better
if you come on this side.
Over here.
I'll do it, I'll do it.
No, no... Fidel, I'll do it.
Here we have cigars.
- I don't know what's in there.
-I do not smoke any more.
Could be candies.
- I can tell it's an old box.
-I haven't smoked for 17 years.
Candies!
Very good.
I think I see a pistol.
Yes, that's all.
There is a book over there.
I moved my gun from there...
or there'd have been
no room for you.
Oh, yes.
You know how to use it, Fidel?
Perhaps I still remember.
Let me see what
you have over there.
What someone gave me.
"The Round Table."
"The Round Table."
And that is a book.
It's an old book.
He doesn't read up to date.
Just as well I don't bring
secret papers with me.
They would have been exposed.
Do people know that he's
in this car? Is he spottable?
Yes, everybody knows.
Does he like
to drive around at night?
More in the past.
Because I was less
of a slave
to my office.
I traveled around a lot.
Was he shocked or not when he found
out that Kennedy had an open car...
no... the security? The windows
were open on all the parade route.
The car was driving very slow.
Was he surprised by that?
I always had my doubts
because when you shoot
with a telescopic sight
it's hard to hit the target
from such a distance.
When you fire the gun moves
and you have to re-aim.
You couldn't fire
several times in a row.
I have never believed
the theory about the lone gunman.
One well-aimed shot
is all he could have managed.
A conspiracy seems very likely.
Then there's that strange thing
about the presumed assassin dying
of sadness and honor...
It's hard to explain it all.
Are we going into the crowd? No
questions... We just walk and talk?
The idea is to visit
the school in a few minutes.
Shall I leave my bag here?
- If...
-It's safe?
If there are no secret papers,
you can leave it.
- Where are you from?
-Nicaragua.
- Venezuela.
-Guatemala.
Bolivia.
Is tuition very low?
It's all free.
Both for Americans and for
all the international students.
American Dominican.
Thank you for coming.
American Dominican.
Oliver.
American Dominican.
- Where are you from?
-I'm from New York City, Manhattan.
- Trini Martinez from Oregon.
-Oregon. How's it going?
And you?
El Salvador.
She's from Argentina.
You'll become a doctor,
go back to New York?
Yes.
Do you have planned parenthood
and abortion here?
Yes, abortion is legal.
When it was illegal
in the years before the Revolution,
illegal abortion was very common.
With terrible consequences
for the health. Many women died.
Now it is the woman's choice.
So you don't have women who are
having 7 or 8 children anymore?
That's not very common now
as women are more educated.
They play a part in society.
I think we've
spoiled their classes.
You know, it's the uniform.
If you came down with a pair of
Bermuda shorts, American flip-flops
and an ugly T-shirt...
nobody would notice him.
It's just a joke.
He doesn't smile.
We will show...
the security people
how to do their job.
So that when Bush comes...
If he travels here, you're
in trouble. I can tell you that.
No problems.
We'd take care of him.
No, he'll take care of you.
You'll be in the prison.
He'll be back in prison.
You can be sure of that.
Is Gorbachev
a hero of his or not?
He was...
He had...
good intentions.
That country needed improvements,
not destruction.
Which Russian leader
cut off the aid to Cuba?
The Soviet leader
who cut off aid to Cuba was...
the U.S. government.
Understand?
I'll explain.
When the USSR collapsed
aid was interrupted.
Gorbachev was there.
But he was less powerful.
We had some agreements
from before him
which expired when he was leader.
He was drinking with...
Khrushchev, he was drinking
with Brezhnev, he was drinking
with Yeltsin...
All three are major drinkers.
Did he drink with them?
No, it was difficult
to compete with Yeltsin.
Which of these men
amused him most?
I got on with Khrushchev best.
Khrushchev was
the shrewd peasant type.
He was the one who...
initiated cooperation
with Cuba and felt sympathy
for Cuba.
Revolution is
for any country the most violent
means of change,
bringing as it does
death, destruction and hatred.
The Cuban Revolution
ruled out one dictator,
but it produced another...
Fidel Castro.
Little did
the Cuban people suspect
that Castro would betray
their cause and deliver them
into the hands
of the most ruthless
of all tyrannies...
into the iron grip of communism.
When you were in
the guerrilla army up in the jungle,
did anybody get fed up,
anybody was like pissed off
and wanted to quit?
Of course.
Did people say, "This Castro
doesn't know what he's doing."?
But nobody ever complained about
the Castros directly.
Some complained about...
the hardships of the struggle,
the great effort...
what we would have at the end.
Who inspired them?
We were inspired by
Cuban pro-independents,
who were brave fighters.
Maximo Gomez, Marti,
Maceo, who organized an invasion...
30 years with machetes and horses...
They were
our inspiration throughout.
The tactics we used were
the result of observation
and meditation
and of inspiration.
Tell me about Nixon.
The first time I met him
was in March 1959.
He was Vice President.
We talked...
I explained our situation to him,
shared my ideas with him...
And he immediately
drafted a report.
He wrote...
that I was...
a communist.
At that time,
to talk about land reform
identified you as a communist.
From the very beginning
he gave me the impression
of being a hypocrite...
a small-minded politician...
vain.
Furthermore, it was he
who recommended that
an expedition be organized
to destroy us.
At what point did he actually
in his own thinking commit to the
Soviet Union as an ally
and antagonize
the United States?
One: when
we were deprived
of the sugar quota
and were left
without a sugar market,
and when the oil supply
was cut off.
That was a political
economic moment.
There was a sense of gratitude...
It was not yet
a political commitment...
nor military.
But the fact is
that the expedition was already
being organized
in Guatemala
for the invasion.
And so we started requesting
the purchase of weapons
from the Soviet Union.
Kennedy inherited
the Eisenhower administration's
plans to invade Cuba.
Plans in an advanced stage.
Hardly 2 months passed before
everything was under way.
Kennedy did not have
much experience.
He trusted the U.S. institutions
too much.
These charges
are totally false
and I deny them categorically.
The United States has committed
no aggression against Cuba,
and no offensive
has been launched from Florida
or from any
other part of the United States.
Actually...
the reason for the missiles here
was that the Soviets
had information
that there was a plan
to invade Cuba.
Khrushchev had made
a deep commitment to Cuba.
Even at the time
of the invasion he made
very strong statements.
He spoke about
strategic missiles, implying
that Cuba would be supported.
And there was a moral factor
that had to be considered.
We did not like the idea...
We would have taken
whatever risks were necessary
rather than
appear as a Soviet military base
in the Western hemisphere.
So, from the military
point of view,
things were very bad.
They'd allowed the Americans
to use their surveillance planes
to survey the whole area
and locate the missiles.
They put our country
in great danger. We...
thought we would be obliterated.
We would be the first to disappear.
Your critics in America
and the historians
continue to say that
in the October 26th letter
to Khrushchev
you called for nuclear war.
Socialism or death.
It's been interpreted that way.
I did not ask them to attack.
I said,
"If this country is attacked...
If this country is attacked
with 40,000 Soviet troops..."
There was an agreement...
My conviction was that
after the invasion,
the Americans would not
take long to launch an attack.
We did not have
a Russian translator.
There was an ambassador
who spoke Spanish
very poorly. So,
that note, I...
I doubt
that he received a clear message.
I can only imagine
what the ambassador translated.
After,
Khrushchev sent me a letter
defending himself
from my accusations.
He said he had obtained a guarantee
from the U.S. not to invade Cuba.
A verbal guarantee.
And he said we had suggested
a first strike.
We will not prematurely
or unnecessarily
risk the course
of worldwide nuclear war
in which even the fruits
of victory would be
ashes in our mouth.
But neither will we shrink
from that risk
at any time it must be faced.
Kennedy committed himself.
He believed it because...
It was a game of words.
Khrushchev resorted to
the naive and superficial notion...
of the intentions behind
those weapons...
He said he had no intention
of using them, for him...
That was the argument he used.
Mr. Castro could not
have pushed the trigger?
No, if we had done nothing...
we were afraid that they would
be destroyed.
And we would be left
with all the radioactivity.
What should Khrushchev
have asked for Cuba?
The return of Guantanamo base.
An end to the blockade.
An end to the terrorist attacks...
Five points.
I think the sticking point for
Kennedy was that if Cuba existed as
a Socialist model in the hemisphere
it would have been dangerous.
The Russians understood that.
So they put
their own interests first.
Yes, and I wrote about that.
They could not
have won the point
because America
would always hate Cuba...
Great tension
was created worldwide.
No one in the world was willing
to have a nuclear war
over a military base there.
Or an economic blockade of Cuba.
No one would have gone
to war for that.
And we were new...
We could not pretend
to have more experience.
We didn't understand
the balance of power,
what military might they had...
At the time of the invasion,
the Revolution was 2 years old.
At the time of
the missile crisis, 3 years.
I think that we did
what we had to do.
And we did it relatively well.
But I do not think
we could have known
how erratic
our friends and allies
could be.
They did not understand
the Third World.
Nor the theater of operations.
They only thought about tank
brigades, artillery,
motorized infantry,
conventional troops.
And irregular warfare
cannot be fought
with conventional troops.
They are only for parades.
But we engaged
in irregular warfare
and we defeated our enemies.
If Mr. Castro knew
that the CIA
had been behind the coup
of 54, then he had
more reason not to trust
the United States.
Especially knowing how the United
States had acted historically.
But many...
It was not the only intervention.
There was Santo Domingo...
And in Central America
on several occasions.
The CIA already existed,
of course.
And he knew all this?
Yes, everyone knew about it.
Except Americans.
Because they told
the Americans one thing...
That it was
a Communist government,
and a danger to
the national security of the U.S.
And that is a sacred expression.
Whenever it is invoked,
there is a reaction.
A conditioned reflex.
"Such and such a thing
is a threat to national security."
Affecting homeland security.
National security...
That word is sacred.
In Vietnam there were always
stories about Cuban advisers.
No, it was Cubans
who were studying the Vietnamese.
To get experience.
How many Cubans were there?
Never more than 20, I think.
I can't be completely sure.
But I know it was
a very small group.
Later it was said
that there were
security advisers there.
And that they had taken part
in the torturing of prisoners.
And I tell you that
that is
absolutely untrue.
I read the POW accounts
in Hanoi.
We're talking about...
I would assume two dozen men
who claim there was a Cuban
who at first...
at first watched...
but then participated
in the beatings.
It was very brutal.
If that were true,
I assure you we would
have had them tried in a court.
Believe us or not,
I assure you that
in 43 years of Revolution
never have we tortured anyone.
It's a principle
of ours since the way.
That was what Batista used to do,
and we would never
resort to those methods.
The Vietnamese did not want
any foreigners
among their troops.
They never asked
the Chinese for help.
They never asked the Russians.
Oh, yes, they were very zealous...
Deeply nationalistic.
And the Vietnamese
were not criminals.
The Vietnamese did not
execute their prisoners.
There was quite
a bit of brutality.
Well...
He must know more than me.
You know that we
were invaded by 1,500 men.
We took 1,200 prisoners.
In fighting which lasted 68 hours
there were hundreds of wounded.
Over 100 casualties.
We were attacked
by surprise,
by planes with Cuban insignias.
That was the source
of our... indignation.
And rage.
A great deal of rage.
You tell me if any
of those 1,200 prisoners...
I myself went...
I arrived there...
Ask Almeida,
ask anybody.
Go into the streets...
and ask if they have ever
heard about torture.
It does not fit in
with the way we think.
I would not have the morality
to criticize anybody.
What about the Huberto Matos case?
Well...
what he did was very risky.
He was a real coward.
He was in the war
for the last 8 months.
Minimal war merits...
He wanted to get
the regiment to rebel.
The trial
was here.
I went to it,
with all the documents.
And he was sentenced to 25 years.
It was an act of treachery.
A dangerous act.
Do you think
we should walk around?
The light's going.
They should tell us to go
somewhere open and not too crazy.
Wherever we go,
it will be like that.
- It has to be a surprise.
-...the Hemingway bar?
I'll take you,
I'll be your guide.
Now he will be the guide.
He will be your tourist guide.
And we say to Mr. Reagan...
that we are not afraid
of his threats.
What is a dictator?
Does anyone really know?
Is it bad to be a dictator?
Because I've seen the U.S.
governments, for example,
being very friendly with
the greatest dictators.
Marx speaks of the dictatorship
of the proletariate.
Not of personal dictatorship.
I have always tried
to solve basic problems
through persuasion
and moral authority.
You will not find a picture
over the last 43 years
of police
oppressing the people.
People all over the world call him
the "movie star dictator."
What don't they like?
Do they say I'm a bad actor?
The new Evita Perén, in a way?
Nobody denies
the real achievements.
I have heard
some strange things about me.
But...
I don't see any similarity.
I do believe that Evita Perén
genuinely felt for
the cause of her people.
And that the people
responded to her.
And she had almost more support
than Perén.
It doesn't offend me
if you make comparisons with her.
I did not borrow
my ideas from anyone.
I have always done
my job, my duty...
I admit I am a dictator...
a dictator to myself.
I am a dictator to myself,
a slave
of the people.
That's what I am.
Carlos shot a documentary
in the barrios here,
in Cuba, Havana.
He says that in every block...
the blocks that he was shooting,
there was always
one informant type,
who reports...
So people have to be cool
and they have to conform.
It was his imagination.
What we did today...
What we did today,
we could do
in any neighborhood.
On any street in Havana.
We can go by ourselves.
And today you saw me
order the head of the bodyguards
to get out of the car.
But he's not there.
The small-time people
drive everyone nuts, right?
At school there's always a squealer
who makes trouble for the people.
All states have a bureaucracy.
And people who do different things.
Maybe he's got to
simplify the system
so that these guys
don't get rewarded.
I don't like giving...
These are different things...
It's not giving orders,
it's persuading people.
I have been accused
of talking too much,
but I like to persuade people.
I don't use complicated terms.
I converse with people.
It's hard for me to keep still.
What started the universe?
Was there an organizing principle?
I think that most things
are yet to be known.
We're only beginning to understand
the organism, cells,
genes.
The Pope said recently
that the theory of evolution
is not...
incompatible
with the doctrine of creation.
The Pope also says...
he doesn't talk about hell,
he talks about fear of God.
Is he an atheist?
I do not believe.
I do not believe in all
that man has created.
You're an atheist but
you receive the Pope graciously.
Do you believe
that religion is an opiate
for the people?
It all depends.
If religion is used
to create values,
to do good, to comfort people,
then it is not opium.
But if religious beliefs
are used to defend a bad cause,
then it becomes opium.
Religion gives consolation
to many people,
human beings have
a tendency to believe.
What is the meaning of your life?
I feel satisfied with it,
of having done what I have done.
It gives me pleasure
when we advance in new ideas.
I feel absolute tranquility
with the work done
by the Revolution.
I would not
change it for anything.
Does he feel that life's meaning,
the meaning of life
for human beings,
is to bring one closer
to understanding oneself?
Life is a matter
of acquiring values,
of acquiring knowledge.
Of doing something
worthwhile with your life.
To practice self-control?
Yes.
Everything we do
is to give real possibilities
to the people,
to help them to develop
their full potential.
In the field of education,
of health...
the cultivation of values.
Che!
One of the most
admirable things about Fidel
is that of being
a historical figure, a paradigm
who is constantly referring
to past experiences.
But he is still of the present.
And he tells us how
the future is going to be.
People don't live forever.
Man's genetic potential
is 120 years.
Turtles, 300 years.
Could we modify genes
and live longer?
It would be better.
Research...
could lead to the fountain
of youth but I think
that if men
could live for 500 years,
they would get terribly bored.
So he would live forever?
No. Because the mind
is used to the idea
that there is
a limited amount of time.
Tell him Viagra will help.
Help me to think?
As doctors say, it boosts
the circulation of the blood.
- I could be a CIA agent.
-That's right.
Then they would say, "Oliver
went to Havana to deliver Viagra."
They might think that it would
help to kill this enemy with
a heart attack.
He'd get the decorations
he didn't get in Vietnam.
Were you decorated in Vietnam?
Were you wounded in combat?
Yes, he was decorated.
You were wounded twice?
That is the courage you now need
to do what you are doing.
Who's going to come after you?
That... all depends
on whether it is
in 20 years' time...
or 10 years' time...
or 6 months' time...
As I have always been in danger
of being assassinated,
since the Revolution,
I believe I have the authority
to go on with the Revolution.
It will not be easy.
I have more confidence
in the ideas,
in the political culture
of our people,
than in men.
You love her, don't you?
I mean she's your wife,
almost an alter-ego.
- Who is he talking about?
-"Her." That's me.
Yes.
She's been
my translator for years.
I know. your minds...
You must be husband and wife.
How long have you been here?
Almost 30 years.
Almost 30 years.
Very often...
she knows what I'm thinking
and she goes ahead of me.
What about in his heart?
Does he love you?
Yes.
In my heart, yes.
What is he getting at?
I want him
to acknowledge his heart.
Yes, he wants to know everything.
It is hard to get away
from his questioning.
- You love him though.
-Yes, of course, I love him too.
I asked earlier if
you had a picture of Dalia.
I have some pictures.
But it does not seem
proper to show them.
That is what
I have always believed.
The other girls are visible. Is it
that her pictures are hard to find?
Which other girls?
Nati... the first wife...
Mirta.
Cecilia.
There are some names
I do not recognize.
There must be a mistake.
No, one was Nati.
Nati, I know her.
Celia Sénchez?
I know Celia Sénchez.
And the first wife.
Yes, but you said before
"Cecilia" instead of Celia.
- It's a different name in Spanish.
-Let me say...
it has always been
a habit with me
that I don't think I have a right
to talk about relationships
I have had with ladies.
That is my first rule.
Not even with
the mother of his sons?
She may be the mother
of my sons and she may not be.
Well, she's married officially, no?
No.
A formality I have avoided.
I married once.
I did not need to again.
So...
really...
when you asked me about Mirta...
She knew she was marrying
a revolutionary.
Why do people say
Celia was the great love?
She was an extraordinary woman.
It was a different
kind of relationship.
And I've never talked about that.
It has not been
a life without love.
It has has been a life...
with love.
It is a story I do not
have the right to make public.
He reminds me of my father.
For that generation,
it's a little bit
harder to talk about
private affairs.
Fidelito.
- Hello, Fidel Junior.
-Hi.
That': a very good-looking puppy
you have there. ls he yours?
No, somebody
gave it to my father.
Has he been a good father?
I mean he's been so busy.
Politically, as a revolutionary,
I refuse to mix
my family with politics.
Really, the idea of First Ladies...
seems ridiculous to me.
The time I have devoted
to my children
has not been so much.
If you measure
my being a good father
by time spent with them,
then perhaps
I have not been a good father.
But I am capable of feeling...
and I do feel for them
even though I do not spend
all day with them.
When I am with them
I try to make the most of
the time we have together.
Why, if Mr. Castro...
I feel he's very popular
with young people, a new generation
70 or 80 percent...?
Why not have an election now?
That is the wrong
question.
Because it is based
on the assumption
that there is no
electoral system in Cuba,
and that there
are no elections here.
Possibly
our elections are much more
democratic than in other countries.
He should study
our electoral system,
the participation
of all our citizens,
who elect delegates
from every region.
The Party
does not put up candidates.
It is the citizens who choose.
You cannot start
from the assumption
that there are no elections.
What about the government's
discrimination
against homosexuals?
At the beginning
in this country there was
a machista spirit...
machista...
and prejudice.
Over the years
that has declined
to the point where
there is practically
no kind of problem.
It has been difficult due to
our male-dominated heritage.
What about the black population?
Well...
the black population
is the poorest.
But it also benefited most
from the Revolution.
Thanks to him,
I have what I have.
"I have what I should have,"
as Nicolas Guillén said.
Thanks to him.
Believe me, from my heart...
They are the most revolutionary.
Are there any black
political leaders?
Yes, we have black
political leaders,
but we are still not satisfied.
I think that we have still not
achieved the true possibility
of equal opportunities.
What's going to happen
in Colombia right now?
There came a point
where the ceasefire was broken...
and negotiations
were broken off.
And this may lead to
a very bloody war.
So he sees another Vietnam?
What I see is a civil war.
I could not
compare it to Vietnam
because events do not take place
in exactly the same way.
Without any doubt it will be
complicated as there
are different forces.
If there is a power structure
that runs the world,
would you want Nelson Mandela
to have a neutron bomb?
No. I know something about that...
My deepest conviction
is that
he does not even know
where those weapons are.
I spoke with Mandela about that.
I asked him what he knew
about those nuclear weapons.
And what the military had told him.
Where were they? And he said,
that he'd been told
that they had been destroyed,
that they had been disarmed.
There's a movie in America now
showing America as powerful,
America patriotic, nationalistic...
fighting wars against
terrorism...
drugs...
The army is very scary,
the weapons are very scary.
Where is this going?
That's the same question
many of us ask.
I think that the world
will become more
and more ungovernable.
It is impossible
to establish a world order
based on force.
The solution to the world's
problems is not a military one.
I have the hope
that the American people
will play a decisive role
in defending changes
for a more humane order.
Che said many Vietnams
will bring down America.
From a strategic point
of view, his way of thinking
was right.
Not "bring down America."
I never heard Che say
"bring down America."
The U.S. is the U.S. people.
First of all put
an end to corruption,
and put an end
to abuses,
to repression in this hemisphere.
That was Che's first priority.
He meant the fight
against colonialism...
That is what Che meant by that.
People who I have talked to before
told me that Che, he came back
from Africa,
they told me he had
two nervous breakdowns,
and he came back here,
went to a clinic,
he had a 48-hour
meeting with Fidel and then he...
he slammed the door
on the way out
and then he went to Bolivia.
If history is written like that,
then I would never read it again.
Here is a letter
from our comrade
Ernesto Guevara...
“Fidel,
I feel I have fulfilled that part
of my duty
that bound me
to the Cuban Revolution
on its territory
and now [leave you,
the comrades,
and your people,
which is also mine.“
The truth is...
that when he joined us in Mexico
he asked for one thing.
That when the Cuban Revolution
was complete,
he wanted to go on.
And he did not want,
for reasons of state,
us to forbid him to go.
That was the idea he had in mind.
I heard that
he pissed off people.
That he was not a compromiser.
And I heard that
he embarrassed Cuba
because he attacked the Russians and
the Russians were upset with him.
He was critical
of the use
of capitalist categories
to build socialism.
Did the Soviets tell Fidel
to get rid of him, put him away?
Never. That would be
like asking me
to get rid of Raul.
A man would say the motivation
might very well be that he was...
Che goes to Africa,
where he has a mostly successful
experience, comes back
and Cuba must seem
very small to him.
He wants to expand right away.
I sent him to Africa,
and I'll tell you why.
He was very impatient.
He wanted to go
to South America.
I did not believe
that conditions were still right
and that we still had to fulfill
our mission in Africa.
Because
he was very impatient
and guerrillas need to be young.
Some people said
that Fidel could have
put more pressure in Bolivia
to help Che.
That was a combined operation.
It would have taken time.
It was a guerrilla struggle
in its first phase.
When you initiate it,
the terrain, the people
are unfamiliar.
And I wanted him to get
there with the utmost safety.
But differences arose between him...
rivalry on the part of
the leader of the
Communist Party leader.
There were contradictions.
Other lands
call for my modest efforts.
To my children, to my wife,
I do not leave
anything material,
and I do not regret it.
I am happy that it is so.
I do not ask for anything
for them because the state
will provide all they need to live
and to be educated.
I'm going to quote
an actor, Vittorio Gassman.
He was interviewed
when he was 70.
He said,
"Life should be lived twice.
The first time is a rehearsal, and
the second time we'd live for real."
Always back to philosophy.
I wish...
we could think of life
as in two parts.
One part as a rehearsal
and the other part
as the real thing.
It happened to him,
to me, to everyone.
Yes, but there are things
in all our lives...
So possibly twice...
It's enough to be born just once.
Did he make mistakes?
Yes, like everyone.
Life is a process
of learning ideas, values.
We are not born with ideas.
We are not born with values.
We are taught those things.
Or to a certain extent
we teach them to ourselves.
Is there any
specific moment, regret,
political, personal,
that you would just
go back now and change it?
If I were born again...
I would be the same as I am now...
given that I was born
under the same circumstances.
Let us not fool ourselves
into thinking
that what lies ahead will be easy.
Perhaps what lies ahead
will all be
more difficult.
I have
to take you to the airport.
That's my only guarantee.
Let's go.
Oliver, don't waste
another minute.
It's a Mexican plane.
No flowers or gifts,
we'll mail them to you.
Life is good to you.
Same here.
It was good because
it brought you here.
Many, many thanks.
Thank you.
Good luck.
Leave him here
so we can feed him up.
That would be good,
to do some volunteer work.
Those who would give up essential Liberty
to obtain a little temporary Safety
deserve neither Liberty
nor Safety. Benjamin Franklin.