Castro praises N.Korea for Cold War arms aid

Castro praises N.Korea for Cold War arms aid
Published August 14, 2013AFP

HAVANA (AFP) – Fidel Castro credited North Korea Wednesday with
supplying Cuba with free weapons in the 1980s after the Soviet Union
said it could no longer defend the island against a US invasion.

Castro's reminiscence in an article published Wednesday came as UN
experts were scrutinizing a shipment of Cuban arms to North Korea to
determine if they violated a UN ban.

Castro has dismissed the discovery of the undeclared arms aboard a North
Korean freighter transiting the Panama Canal as an attempt to smear Cuba.

In an article marking his 87th birthday, Castro did not mention the case
but praised North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung for coming to Cuba's aid
near the end of the Cold War.

Castro said then Soviet leader Yuri Andropov had told him that Cuba
would have to defend itself it were invaded by the United States.

"He told us that if were attacked by the United States we would have to
fight alone," he said.

"We asked him if they could supply us with weapons free of charge as
they had in the past. He responded that they would.

"We then communicated to him: 'Don't worry. Send us the arms and we will
take care of the invaders ourselves."

Castro said North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung, "a veteran and
unimpeachable combatant, sent us 100,000 AK rifles and (ammunition)
without charging a cent," he said.

Andropov, a former KGB chief, was the Soviet leader from 1982 until his
death 15 months later in 1984 as the Soviet Union entered into a period
of crisis that ended with its collapse in 1989.

Kim Il-Sung died in 1994. His grandson now rules the Stalinist state.

Castro stepped down as Cuba's president in 2006, handing over the reins
to his younger brother Raul after becoming ill.

"I was far from imagining that my life would extend for another seven
years," he said.

Source: "Castro praises N.Korea for Cold War arms aid | Fox News" -
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/08/14/castro-praises-nkorea-for-cold-war-arms-aid/