European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 27, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                I Cuba s by Bruce handler associated press t for 25years, the regime has spent scarce resources to develop Rural areas leaving Havana with a rundown  photo i he 53 people in our group mostly Upp Middle class brazilians with no sym path communism loll Cuba was Worth a visit because Iho unpopular former military n Brazil had prohibited it Lor 21 years. Also the Lour package Wao by International slam bargain 10 Days with air arc hotels local Iran pc and All meals included for $ 1,000 a person so Here we were Landing at Jose Marti Airport in Cubana airlines soviet made Tupoljev Jet to be Gre welcoming signs in English. Spanish and russian. The cubans Oil Rcd not to stamp our passports possible political problems Back in Brazil or. In myi United Stales but our group took an informal vote the passport control police logo ahead and Pul in entry Stamps a modern air conditioned bus look us to the a Libre free Havana hotel formerly the Havana Hil hotel built in the 1950s when Cuba was full of Visioli americans was run Down. Toilet seats and soap � missing from n my rooms. Back Home the Brazilia would have t a planned but they did t give the c hard Lime. Turning on the to set in me hotel room you became aware you were in a communist Oul pos Western hemisphere morning fare or kiddies Mickey mouse but rather cartoons from Poland Anchorman for government run to Rebelde Rel sat in front of clocks showing the time not in a. And Paris but in Moscow and Luanda television also featured frequent appearances 1 president Fidel Castro and his brother first vice p Raul Castro often criticizing president Reagan ant there was less propaganda on the radio also Govi run with disc jockeys frequently playing Western i such As the beatles and Lionel Richie s Academy winning hit say you say  the next Day Cuba tur the government tourism took us to colonial old Havana to visit historical Sill including the roman Catholic Cathedral. We visited Bode Guita Del Medio bar and restaurant where pm Fidel Castro up photo Havana Parade Marks founding of Union of communist youth. Continued from Pago 13 Lens of thousands of his forces in ideologically like minded countries on the continent. Now he exhorts latin american nations As a Means of achieving definitive Independence to repudiate their $30 billion debt Burden most of it owed to . Creditors. Other Caribbean leaders Are Content to shun foreign involvements but Castro seems to relish them constantly seeking ways to make Cuba s influence Elt. Few Heads of government anywhere have Ever left a stamp As indelible As the one Castro has left and continues to leave on Cuba when he took Power it was As though Cuba was starting All Over again. He nationalized businesses shut Down the Independent Media forced a million of his countrymen into exile and shunned the United states while embracing the soviet Union. He closed Church schools expelled foreign priests banned strikes jailed thousands for political opposition suppressed rec debate abolished traditional holidays and invented new ones formed neighbourhood snooping organizations and through erratic economic policies created All sorts of shortages. On the other hand he educated the illiterate built schools where none existed before provided medical care to a degree rarely seen in the third world became a hero to previously neglected peasants and exported doctors teachers and expeditionary forces to Distant lands. He provided technical training to thousands of foreign youths abolished gambling and prostitution eradicated american political influence Defeated a  sponsored invasion survived an american economic embargo and a number of assassination attempts gleaned billions of dollars in Aid from Moscow and created one of latin America s most stable states. Very Little about Cuba escapes Castro s Allie when a lire broke out at the Havana Libre hotel january he rushed to the scene watching the Battle the Blaze. He got wet. Unlike Many other Heads of government Ca not Lead a fishbowl existence. Newspapers and television news programs sometimes go week giving an account of his activities. His personal taboo subject. K Castro claims to have been bom on aug. 13, his brother Raoul says he was born on that dal later he spent his first dozen years on a farm Oriente province. Educated by jesuits he Man Diaz Balart As a Young Man and divorced her by revolution. His son fidello is head of Cuba s l Energy commission. Castro s personal friends and female come nowadays Are regarded by his countrymen As c private concern and no one else s. Asked by a interviewer a few years ago if he was married c answered somewhat cryptically not in the a  he is believed to sleep at several diff locations for Security reasons but few outside i Circle know for sure inside Cuba discussion of such questions considered impolite. The Only occasions in we Castro has openly discussed personal matter been during interviews with foreign journalist last year Castro who has left the cuban c Church emasculated talked candidly about i religious views during extensive interviews wifi leftist brazilian Churchman Frei Belo. Ever had the use of reason the name of Jesus Chri one of the most familiar in my House and in so during my infancy and adolescence he told i never saw a contradiction Between the ideas i sustain me and the ideas of that Symbol that extraordinary  f when the interviews were published in 1 Page 14 the stars and stripes