CUBANS URGE INCREASED AID FOR VIETNAM
The Cuban delegation at the twenty-third congress of the Communist party of the Soviet Union sounded a refreshingly militant note at a gathering that otherwise appeared committed to stressing — "peaceful coexistence" and the partial rehabilitation. of Stalin.
According to the April 1 issue of Izvestia, Armando Hart Davalos, the head of the: Cuban delegation, called for greatly . increased material aid to Hanoi and to the Vietnamese freedom fighters. He insisted that "the necessary risk" must be taken to help them win against ‘the invading U.S. imperialist forces. Hart was. quoted as saying: ne St Se
"From a tactical point of view, a military force should be created capable of stopping the bombardment of north Vietnam, of deactivating United States aircraft that are bombing Vietnamese territory.
' "Of decisive importance is the halting of the criminal aggression the bombardment represents, using all means availiable and taking the necessary risk.
"It is necessary to undertake final efforts and give decisive aid in order to transform the territory of north Vietnam into a cemetery of American aircraft.
It is necessary, if the conditions demand, to be ready for battle in Vietnam with the aim of defending the territorial integrity and ‘the very existence of this fraternal country.'
An account in the New York press said that Hart's speech caused a "commotion" in the hall. Tass, the official press agency, did not include this part of the speech in the accounts it sent
overseas. Apparently the Brezhnev-Kosygin team found it embarrassing.
The proposal should not have astonished the Kremlin, however. In a speech in Havana March 13, the text of which has just been. received in New York, Fidel Castro explained at some length why the "socialist countries" should have united in a common front at once when Johnson began bombing north: Vietnam. Despite the differences, said Castro, obviously referring to the Sino-Soviet conflict, all the governments in the tine of fire should have taken vigorous measures.
In view of the superiority of the “socialist countries" in "conventional" wars that do not involve nuclear weapons, they could more than cancel out American air power in the theater of conflict.
Castro added that despite’ the sharp differences that had i arisen between Cuba and Peking’ because of the economic pressure: Mao brought to bear in hope of gaining political concessions’ from * : Havana, the Cuban government would stand firmly on the side of China | in case of a U.S. attack. Castro said that the Cubans. would take. os this stand although they know full well that in the event of a conflict of this kind, they will be among the first victims of American imperialism due to their exposed geographical position.
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