Word: castros
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...past year, Cuba has been torn by a power struggle between its old-guard, Moscow-lining Communists and the younger Fidelistas, whose hearts are closer to Peking. The Moscow old guard is clearly getting the worst of it. Between May and December last year, Castro sacked four Cabinet ministers who were aligned with the Soviet-oriented wing of the party. Last week he bumped the most important old-timer yet: Carlos Rafael Rodriguez, 51, director of the National Institute of Agrarian Reform (INRA) and top go-between for Havana and Moscow...
...student at Havana University, soon proved himself one of its most practical politicians. In 1944, when the Communists were supporting Dictator Fulgencio Batista, Rodriguez even became a minister without portfolio in Batista's Cabinet for seven months. That palship lasted until the mid-1950s, and when Castro started his revolution in the Sierra Maestra, Rodriguez hurried into the hills to become liaison man with the underground in the cities...
...four years after the victory, Rodriguez edited the party daily Hoy, always seemed to turn up close to Castro on the podium at important functions, outranked only by Little Brother Raul, Che Guevara and Bias Roca. In 1962 Rodriguez took over from Fidel as agrarian-reform director and boss of the island's sugar industry-in effect Cuba's economic czar. As Cuba's econ omy continued to fall apart and Castro's relations with Moscow cooled, Rodriguez lost some of his power-over the fishing industry, water resources, and finally the whole sugar industry...
Moscow & Out. In December Castro sent Rodriguez to Moscow to negotiate a new trade pact with the Russians, who are obviously weary of pumping $1 million-a-day worth of aid into Cuba with little effect. The mission was less than successful. Announced last week, the 1965 pact provides for $640 million in two-way trade, a mere 4% increase over 1964 compared with last year's 22% increase. And to help square its overall debt, estimated at $650 million, Cuba will be shipping 2,100,000 tons of sugar to the Soviets, nearly double the 1964 amount...
Almost simultaneously, Castro announced that he himself was taking over INRA, and that Rodriguez was "relieved of his duties." Rodriguez would remain in the Cabinet "in charge of directing the study of numerous problems of national economy." The Soviets could not miss the point. For his chief INRA assistant, Fidel passed over Rodriguez' first vice minister and named instead a Fidelista, whose previous experience was as CO of Cuba's air force...