Castro lands in U.S.

Press, 12 October 1979, Page 6

Castro lands in U.S.

(NZPA-Reuter New York The Cuban President (Dr Fidel Castro) arrived in the United States yesterday amid I some of the most stringent! security arrangements ever; seen at John F. Kennedy; (International Airport in New York. Dr Castro, making his- , first visit to the United; 'States in nearly 20 years,' | was met by the United .■Nations chief of protocol' (Mr Aly Teymour) when he;!

alighted from his Ilyushin 62 Cubana Airlines jet. He is due to address the United ]Nations General Assembly ’today. ' Dr Castro, wearing ’ his usual green army fatigues, 'lit a cigar as he stepped into I hjs waiting limousine to drive to the Cuban United ! Nations mission in the centre of New York in a motorcade under heavy police escort. His aircraft had taxied up to a remote, disused section of Kennedy Airport. Lining the approaches were about 80 police cars and vans crowded with plain-clothes and; uniformed officers. Some; 500 men will guard Dr' Castro at all times. A second motorcade; headed into New York with’ Carlos Rafael Rodriguez, a Vice-President of the Cuban Council of State, who; arrived with Dr Castro. Se-I curity was so tight that the! Secret Service refused even] to admit it was organising; the guard for Dr Castro. I The passengers on the' Castro plane had tried, to disembark immediately but were kept aboard the plane' by officials from the United) States Immigration, Customs, Secret Service, and Agriculture Departments. They finally alighted 20) minutes later and an American freelance journalist aboard the aircraft said the, delay apparently irritated Dr Castro, adding: “It wasn’t a very warm greeting for; him.” However, when Dr Castro! descended the ramp he told I Cuban journalists with him' that he was very happy to 1 be in the United States. The authorities fear attacks from extremist Cuban: exile groups, many of whom were believed to be organ-; ised in the New York metro-' politan area. In December, 1964, when; Che Guevara, then Cuban; Minister of Industry,! addressed the General | Assembly a bazooka was! fired at the building but the) missile exploded harmlessly! in the nearby East River. Dr Castro’s speech in the United Nations is expected to last about 75 minutes — well short of the 4| hour! marathon on his last visit in 1960 which still stands as a record in the General