Castro Tells McGovern He Can’t Understand Why Haiti Leaders Stay

Fidel Castro cannot understand why Haitian military leaders have not fled in the face of an imminent U.S. invasion, George McGovern said Thursday after a long discussion with the Cuban leader.

“(Castro) said they’re not noted for their courage and they have no principles and no ideals . . . and therefore he doesn’t understand why they don’t flee in the face of a probable American invasion,” McGovern told reporters.

McGovern, a former South Dakota senator and presidential candidate, said he talked with Castro for 2 1/2 hours in Havana late Monday and would brief White House officials on the conversation today.

Castro said one explanation for the Haitian generals’ “stubbornness” might be their refusal to accept the post-Cold War political climate, McGovern said.

“They’re still operating under the aura of the Cold War alliance with the United States under which people’s sins are forgiven as long as they’re anti-communist,” McGovern quoted Castro as saying.

Castro said the same attitude can be seen among Cuban migrants taken to U.S. camps at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba who believe they will go directly to the United States, even though the Clinton Administration has ruled this out.