• Submitted by: manso
• Society
• 08 / 26 / 2010

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18:05, August 25, 2010. Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said his country did not want the Russian missile base installed on its territory, the official daily Granma said on Tuesday.

"We are not interested in having rockets here, or to have a base. We are more interested in the country's image," said the former leader.

"A Soviet base would devalue the image of the Revolution and its ability to influence in the region," he added.

"For us, it was very hard, but we accepted the sacrifice as a question of internationalism," said Castro during a meeting with some Cuban scientists.

During the meeting, Castro talked for two hours with the scientists mainly on the military nuclear capabilities of some great powers.

In 1962, the United States discovered that Castro had agreed to allow the Soviet Union to position nuclear missiles on the island. The missile crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, leading to a 13-day standoff between U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

The crisis ended when the missile base was dismantled by the Soviet Union in exchange for a commitment of Kennedy not to invade Cuba and to dismantle the Turkish missile bases.

Source: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90852/7117519.html