"Socialist," Yes; Elections, No

From Moscow for May Day came an appropriate laurel for Fidel Castro--a Lenin Peace Prize and $27,750 for his "tremendous contribution to the cause of strengthening the peace and the security of nations." As 500,000 arm-swinging Cubans marched through Havana's Plaza Civica last week, the bearded dictator made clear his contribution to the cause of Communism, if not of peace. Proclaimed Castro: "This is a socialist regime. Yes, this is a socialist regime"--and he seemed to mean not just a welfare state, but socialist in the way Communist states describe themselves, an imperfect stage on the way to true Communism.

Churches & Schools. "If Mr. Kennedy does not like socialism," Castro orated, "well, we do not like capitalism. We have as much right to protest over the existence of a capitalist-imperialist regime 90 miles off our coast as he feels he has to protest over the existence of a socialist regime 90 miles off his coast." How about democracy? Castro made his disdain blunter than he had before, even though, from the earliest days in the Sierra Maestra 28 months ago, he had made it clear that revolutionary movements, coming to power in turmoil, need not--and dare not --call immediate elections. "Do we need elections?" Castro demanded of the crowd below him. Obediently the mob roared back: "No! No!"

On May Day the Cuban government also declared open war on that classic enemy of Communism, the Roman Catholic Church. Castro announced: "In the next few days the Revolutionary Government will pass a law declaring void any permit to remain in Cuba held by any foreign priest in our country." New permits might be issued, but only if a priest "has not been combatting the Cuban revolution." The fate of Cuba's 400 Spanish priests also awaits its 139 church schools. Said Castro: "We announce here that in the next few days the Revolutionary Government will pass a law nationalizing the private schools."

Leaving the Fence. Castro's declaration of fealty to Moscow did more than a warehouse full of U.S. White Papers to arouse many Latin Americans to an awareness of danger. In Caracas, noted in the past for its anti-Yankee riots, 400 students demonstrated against Castro. In San Jose, Costa Rica, students at the city's eight high schools walked out to demand a break in diplomatic relations, and President Mario Echandi deplored the restricting "principle of nonintervention which seems every day more unsuitable to inter-American unity." Chile's President Alessandri blamed the Communist bloc for the "disquieting situation in the hemisphere." Mexico, from whose shores Castro launched his original invasion of Cuba, is the nation still most dedicated to Castro's cause, and though President Lopez Mateos, a middle-of-the-roader, might have reservations, he is held back by the re-emergence of Mexico's most powerful politico, former President Lazaro Cardenas, 65, now a Stalin Prize-winning fellow traveler, who is whipping up pro-Castro demonstrations.

Brazil's newly elected President J`anio Quadros, recently so eager to play along with Castro, now seemed to see him in a new light. Quadros' Foreign Minister Afonso Arinos announced that Brazil would support in principle a U.S. call for an extraordinary OAS session on Cuba, and added that if Castro sets up a Soviet-style government, Brazil would have to break relations. At that, Quadros seemed a step behind public opinion. Said Rio's Jornal do Brasil: "Fidel Castro burned his bridges on the first of May. He took a stand against the inter-American system and not just the United States."

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