Nation : Quayle to Snub Castro Despite Impromptu Talks With Ortega

Vice President Dan Quayle, whose meeting this week with Nicaragua’s Marxist President Daniel Ortega ended years of U.S. estrangement, said today he will not repeat the gesture with Cuba’s Fidel Castro.

Castro and Quayle are attending Thursday’s presidential inauguration in Brazil. But Quayle told reporters, “We’re not going to meet with Castro. We have no desire to meet with Castro.”

He responded to a reporter’s question about Castro before leaving Argentina for Brasilia. Brazil is the last stop on his weeklong South American trip, which included a 90-minute talk Monday in Chile with Ortega.

At a Buenos Aires news conference, Quayle repeated his contention that Castro is increasingly isolated. “Eventually democracy and freedom will come to Cuba,” Quayle predicted. “Castro must sooner or later change.”