CASTRO'S COMPROMISES

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Castro: He now says he's not communist, and I say, yes, I'm communist. He repents of having been a communist, and I am proud to be one. Why do I have to renege on my principles?

I have no choice but to continue being a communist, like the early Christians remained Christian. I feel like the early Christians. Perhaps I will be devoured by the lions.

TIME: Where did communism go wrong?

Castro: It went wrong by not liquidating capitalism earlier. I believe that capitalism, in spite of its great successes, is a catastrophe for the world. No matter how many cars, no matter how much good living you have, there are billions of people living in poverty who have no cars, no comfort, no public health, no education. The atmosphere is already poisoned. The waters are poisoned. The forests are being subjected to acid rain. The weather is getting warmer. We have suffered from that ourselves. Capitalism developed the forces of production; it developed technology. But at the same time, it has been digging its own grave.

TIME: How do you really feel about foreign investment in Cuba?

Castro: I was among those who proposed joint ventures even before the collapse of the Soviet Union because we had resources that we could not make use of. We have factories that need raw materials, such as fuel, or some more updated technologies so we may accept a joint venture. The principle we base our activities on is that to develop the country needs capital, technology and markets. All these investments and joint ventures are fundamentally aimed at export production.

But we are not implementing a privatization policy. For domestic consumption, we prefer our own industries. And in the case of the enterprises that are functioning, we prefer that they continue being state-owned. We have no interest in privatizing domestic enterprises. We won't renounce the fundamental role of the state in the development of the economy. We are not going to privatize streets or parks or roads.

TIME: And never the land?

Castro: Not so far. We haven't thought about including it. But we cannot say never. Perhaps we will allow in the future some real estate investment.

TIME: Is there a clear economic strategy at work, or is it debated on an ad hoc basis?

Castro: Our main objective is to preserve the revolution: our independence and the achievements of socialism. We have not renounced socialism as our common objective. Now we are introducing reforms to develop the country during the ``special period'' because the socialist camp has disappeared. We have lost more than 70% of our imports. We were left without credits, without capital, without technology and without markets.

No other country would have been able to endure what we have endured. No other socialist country has been able to endure the collapse of the socialist camp or the loss of its imports in the midst of a blockade. We have been able to do so because of the revolution. No other country would have been able to endure such a situation without a system similar to ours because it would not have been able to guarantee an equitable distribution of resources.