No fan of Peace Prize, but Fidel hails award to Carter

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Castro Applauds Carter's Nobel Peace Prize
Sat Oct 12, 9:57 PM ET

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Fidel Castro applauded
Jimmy Carter on Saturday for winning the Nobel Peace Prize,
citing the former U.S. president's "admirable" ethics and
his work on health programs in Africa.

Castro said the award, announced on Friday, was good news
for the whole world and for communist-ruled Cuba, which
Carter recently became the most senior U.S. statesman to
visit.

"He is a man that is truly admirable for his ethics, and
important steps were taken during his administration,"
Castro said, referring to the establishment of low-level
diplomatic missions in Havana and Washington, which broke
off formal ties with Cuba after Castro's 1959 revolution.

Carter, 78, a Democrat, was president from 1977 to 1981. He
was defeated for re-election by Republican Ronald Reagan in
1980.

During his May visit to Cuba, Carter advocated ending a
four-decade-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba and also met
with dissidents and praised their campaign for internal
democratic reforms in a speech broadcast live.

The dissident Varela Project, boosted by Carter's
endorsement, became the most serious internal political
challenge to date faced by Castro, who took steps to block
reforms to his one-party socialist workers' state.

Castro, 76, said he had never seen so much unanimity behind
a Nobel award, although he said he was no fan of the prize
because it was sometimes granted on political grounds.

Castro mentioned Carter during a lengthy speech closing a
conference that marked the 40th anniversary of the Cuban
missile crisis and was attended by former Soviet and U.S.
officials.


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