LATIN AMERICA: Fidel Returns

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Castro seeks help from a friend

It had been 23 years since Fidel Castro, then a beardless young rebel of 30, set sail with a revolutionary band of 81 guerrillas from the Mexican port of Tuxpan for Cuba's Oriente province. Last week the hirsute Cuban leader returned to the land from which he had launched his successful revolt against the government of Fulgencio Batista. At the invitation of President José López Portillo, Castro made a 32-hour visit to the resort island of Cozumel, with a brief stop on the mainland. Between meetings with López Portillo, who effusively welcomed him as "one of the personalities of this century" who had "restored dignity to Cuba," Castro inspected Mayan ruins in Tulum, and ogled bikini-clad American tourists.

The Cuban President wants Mexico's help in persuading the U.S. to lift the economic embargo it imposed on Cuba in 1962. In a statement aimed at the U.S., Castro praised Mexico for an oil policy that had "clearly expressed that you do not propose to view Mexico's oil development as a part of North American oil needs." Castro drew a sharp contrast between the goals of his own trip and that of President Carter three months ago: "We haven't come to seek oil or gas, which seems to be the fashion these days."

López Portillo, too, sought political advantage from Castro's visit. With elections set for July 1, he wants to appeal to leftists and labor union members, who are clamoring for higher wages to offset Mexico's soaring inflation rate. Among the prominent people he invited to welcome Castro were the heads of four leftist political parties, including the Communists.