Castrologers
'Guns not butter' Was the slogan of an earlier dictatorship. Castro has managed to eliminate the butter all right, but he can still only get the guns on tick from his masters. As Alfred Sher- man has already pointed out in the Spectator, the Russians, with all their willingness to stir up trouble in the Caribbean, have not hitherto shown much faith in the viability of Castroism. If their current move really does mean a change of attitude and a new forward policy•in the area, it could be dangerous: if it is simply a limited commitment to shore up a shaky outpost for the time being, it is not of much real importance. Reaction in America shows the Administration cool and sensible, but many senators and ordinary people are very suspicious indeed, and Mr. Khrushchev is making the most of their alarm. The President is right, of course. But to say that those who take a less balanced view are being un- necessarily touchy is not very helpful. The Rus-
sians must have known that such feelings would be provoked among Americans In this sense their action can certainly be regarded as deliberate provocation. Meanwhile, I simply note that as Britain withdrew from Trinidad and Tobago, Russia penetrated more deeply into its Caribbean satellite. I'd like to think that all those progres- sive-minded romantics who have thronged to Havana over these last years to celebrate a sup- posed liberation could now be found cheering en- thusiastically in the streets of Port of Spain. But I fear they are too busy digging around for ex- cuses for their hero—or for their hero-worship.
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