Portside

'... Fidel Castro is an international figure. He is a man who managed to liberate his country from the Batista dictatorship and laid the foundation for a society that is beneficial for all of the Cubans. Unfortunately, the reaction of the United States Government was to attack Cuba and to impose a criminal embargo. But, the Cuban government, despite these problems, has managed to defend the life and well-being and health of its people. And not only, it has offered international cooperation despite its economic limitations, it has offered international cooperation with other countries. They offered it to Ecuador, in fact. I say it with a certain amount of concern. We would have loved that Europe and the United States offer the thousands of scholarships that Cuba has offered to Ecuadorian students to study medicine. There are 2000 Ecuadorian students who are studying medicine in Cuba. Other countries, only want to train our military personnel. That’s quite a contrast. So, that’s just a way to begin to respond to your question, what is the influence of Fidel Castro? I think it’s a moral influence. I participated in the conversations that President [Rafael] Correa has had with Fidel Castro. In fact, I was present at the last conversation, and Fidel Castro never offered advice to us. We talk about the state of the world, and how to achieve better development, how to improve health care and protection of our natural resources. That is what we talk about.'