(4 Aug 1998) Eng/Spanish/Nat
Cuban President Fidel Castro, on the second day of his visit to Grenada, has met Grenadian Prime Minister Keith Mitchell and the mother of assassinated Prime Minister Maurice Bishop.
Grenada is one of three countries which has welcomed Castro during his six-day Caribbean tour aimed at cementing trade and political ties with his Caribbean neighbours.
In Washington, the U-S State Department took the opportunity to criticise Castro's Caribbean tour as a waste of Cuban money.
Cuban President Fidel Castro arrived in Grenada on Sunday and is continuing his visit in his usual revolutionary and defiant manner.
Grenada is one of three countries which has welcomed Castro during his six-day Caribbean tour aimed at cementing trade and political ties with his Caribbean neighbours.
The tiny nation was the scene of a left-wing coup in 1983 which resulted in the U-S military bombarding the island, ostensibly to protect Americans in Grenada.
Castro began the second day of his visit to Grenada with a meeting with the country's Prime Minister, Keith Mitchell, at his home.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I want to assure the President that the small size of the table is not an indication of how we feel about you."
SUPER CAPTION: Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada
Castro also visited the mother of a leftist leader whose death at the hands of hard-liners in his own movement prompted the U-S invasion of Grenada.
Castro's visit to Alimenta Bishop stirred the woman's memories of her son Maurice, a former Cuban ally and Prime Minister of Grenada.
She hugged Castro and welcomed him into her home.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Well, I don't think the Cubans were responsible for what happened to him at all. I don't think so."
SUPER CAPTION: Alimenta Bishop, Mother of assassinated former Grenadian Prime Minister, Maurice Bishop
Afterwards, Bishop refused to reveal details of her discussion with Castro.
Meanwhile in Washington, the U-S State Department said the money spent on Castro's tour of Jamaica, Barbados and Grenada might have been better spent on meeting the needs of his own people.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"At this very moment that Castro is tooling around the Caribbean, I understand that the W-H-O (World Health Organisation) is trying to put together an appeal to get food to the people of Cuba, and perhaps Castro would show a little greater interest in his people if he spent some of the money and funds and interest on this travel on the people who need food in Cuba because of the failed system that he leads."
SUPER CAPTION: James Rubin, U-S State Department spokesman
The U-S government chided the three countries Castro visited for not insisting on democratic change as a condition for inviting him.
But Castro received a rapturous welcome from thousands of supporters at an outdoor rally in St George's on Monday, when cheering crowds waved Grenadian and Cuban flags.
As he stood to speak, Castro was greeted with thunderous applause and cheers from the crowd.
Castro referred to the anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the Caribbean 160 years ago, then likened the oppression of slavery to the U-S embargo against Cuba.
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish with English translation)
"I know very well what you would like for me to say here because I know the masses, and the masses tend to be radical. Me too - I'm a radical. But at the same time I know, and I'm sure you will understand this very well, that the nature of my visit to this country - to this marvellous country - my expressions should be characterised by a sense of responsibility."
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