Castro says he has no plans to quit

Published Monday, May 18, 1998, in the Miami Herald

Castro says he has no plans to quit

GENEVA -- (AFP) -- Cuban President Fidel Castro Sunday ruled out stepping down in exchange for the lifting of the US trade embargo on his country, saying it would be a capitulation.

``I reject any blackmail over resigning so the blockade could be lifted,'' Castro said in a Swiss television interview. ``That would be capitulation.''

Castro arrived here Wednesday for a week-long visit coinciding with the 50th anniversary celebrations of the predecessor of the World Trade Organization, the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade.

Castro, 70 and in power in Cuba since the 1959 Communist revolution, said he intended to remain in power as long as he enjoyed the support of the Cuban people.

However he described holding power as ``neither a pleasure nor a privilege.'' If he retired, he said, he could ``finally begin to write.''