• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 03 / 31 / 2011

---

Excerpt from article by Fidel Castro published Thursday in Granma: Today I had the pleasure of welcoming Jimmy Carter, who was president of the United States between 1977 and 1981 and the only one, in my view, with sufficient serenity and valor to broach the issue of his country's relations with Cuba.

Carter did what he could to reduce international tensions and promote the creation of the offices of interest in Cuba and the United States. His administration was the only one that took some steps to attenuate the criminal blockade imposed on our people.

The circumstances were certainly not propitious in our complex world. The existence of a truly free and sovereign country in our hemisphere did not reconcile with the ideas of the fascist extreme right in the United States, which managed to defeat the aims of President Carter, which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize. Nobody gave it to him gratuitously.

The Revolution always appreciated his brave gesture. In the year 2002, it received him warmly. Now, it reiterated to him its respect and appreciation.


Source: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/cuban_colada/2011/03/