Actress Deneuve opened the event organized by the association Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) at a theatre on the Champs-Elysees by reading from a speech made by Castro in Havana on January 8, 1959 just after the victory of the Cuban revolution.
"Fooling the people will have the worst consequences ... I shall do everything in my power to resolve the problems without shedding a drop of blood," the revolutionary leader promised.
Semprun, the Spanish writer and former culture minister, charged that 40 years later "the people are still on their knees in front of the rifles" and spoke of "the occultations of truth that have for so long been the prerogative of part of the European Left." ***
Bush said on Friday his administration would toughen enforcement of a ban on travel to Cuba by going after Americans who visit the island without special permits. He also promised to increase the number of visas granted to Cubans who want to "seek freedom" and emigrate to the United States, as demanded by anti-Castro Cubans in Miami who oppose the return of rafters leaving the island. ***