World: The Other Beard

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How long Fidel Castro would remain in Russia was anybody's guess, for his Russian hosts were keeping his itinerary a secret. The Cuban embassy in Moscow dropped hints that he might stay as long as a month, including trips to major cities, factories and farms. It would be as long a grind for host as for guest, for the Kremlin was fast running out of novel ways to honor its Caribbean comrade. Already Soviet scientists had celebrated Fidel's arrival by orbiting their 16th unmanned satellite just for him, and the post office had run off a series of commemorative stamps. One series, in riotous black, white, blue and scarlet, pictured Castro astride a white charger, leading a column of troops. The other stamp, more to the point, showed a dockside crane unloading Soviet equipment from a ship in Havana harbor.