“Brazilian Opinion On Cuba Changing”

Press, Volume C, Issue 29505, 5 May 1961, Page 13

“Brazilian Opinion On Cuba Changing”

(AZ Press Association— Copynuht)

NEW YORK. May 4. Dr. Fidel Castro’s May Day dedication of Cuba as a “Socialist republic” without elections has swung Brazilian opinion strongly in favour of holding an American Foreign Ministers’ conference to consider the Cuban problem, according to the “New York Times” correspondent in Rio de Janeiro.

The Cuban Prime Minister’s May Day speech was greeted yesterday by a chorus of alarmed newspaper editorials. The substance of the editorials was summed up in one phrase by the influential “Correio de Manha”—“The continent must react,” The correspondent said President Janio Quadros called a Cabinet meeting for Saturday and summoned Brazil's Foreign Minister, Mr Afonso Arinos. to Brasilia on Friday to analyse the Cuban situation. The Presidential Palace released the latest in a series of telegrams exchanged between President Quadros and Cuban authorities, who have been appealing for Brazilian support. President Quadros reiterated his offer to have Brazil try to mediate between the United States and Cuba. In a cable to President Osvaldo Dort’cos of Cuba, he repeated the previouslystated position of his Government toward Dr. Fidel Castro’s Government Brazil favoured self-de-termination for all peoples, he said. But Brazil was “disposed to promote all discussion believed helpful to the maintenance of harmony in our hemisphere and the contributing of peace and prosperity to the Americas and to the world,” Students at eight high schools at San Jose, in Costa Rica, were on strike today, demanding that Costa Rica forthwith break off relations with Cuba, United Press International said The students walked out yesterday, saying they would not return to class until diplomatic ties with Cuba had been severed. President Mario Echandi

said last week the Government would break relations the moment Cuba began executing captured invaders. Yesterday the students argued there was already more than enough reasons to break the relationship. Cuba replied to an appeal from President Echandi for clemency to the invaders by calling the President a "servile . . . puppet.” The Cuban press in an attack on President Echandi yesterday, called him a “United States lackey” because of the May Day speech in which he said the Western Hemisphere “principle of non-intervention” was an “outdated obstruction to inter-American unity"