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Anastasia Balezdrova

The son of today's president of Cuba Raul and nephew of its historic leader Fidel Castro, Alejandro Castro Espin, arrived in Athens at the start of the express pre-election campaign. Despite the persistent questions of journalists from leftist editions, he did not express an opinion on the probability of Greece waking up to a left-wing government after the elections on 25 January. "We respect the fact that the brotherly Greek people will exercise their right to vote and I would not like to comment on the possible outcome of the vote. I know, however, that the people know how to utilize the experience of the recent crisis," he said.

Alejandro Castro is one of the most influential politicians and military in Cuba. He is a colonel in the Ministry of the Interior, although he is an educated engineer with a master's degree in international relations. He arrived in Greece at the invitation of the local film company New Star that is releasing the Greek edition of his book "Empire of Terror", published for the first time in 2009 by the Cuban Ministry of the Interior.

At a special press conference at the beginning of his visit to Athens, Alejandro Castro expressed Cuba’s appreciation for the solidarity of Greek people that has contributed towards the return of the five Cuban prisoners who had spent more than 16 years in prisons in the United States. "This was a victory not only of the Cuban people but also of all the nations that, with solidarity, supported the request for the liberation of these heroes, whose only offence was that they were fighting the terror of the United States."

He stressed that Cuba opposes any kind of terrorism and that the fight against it must be guided only by political means. "We in Cuba condemn yesterday's armed attack in Paris and we are adamant that terrorism must be rebutted in the most explicit way. But it is even worse when terrorist acts are supported by the countries as the United States is doing in the attacks against Cuba. It is not possible to carry out campaigns against global terrorism similar to that launched by George Bush Jr. and that caused many casualties, while at least 50 people who have organized terrorist attacks in Cuba are living in freedom in the United States. This is a contradiction that cannot continue," said Alejandro Castro.

He added that he has included in his book examples of the United States state terrorism against Cuba and other countries in the 19th and 20th century.

Fidel Castro’s nephew assessed as a positive development the process of normalization of the relations between Cuba and the United States that began on 17 December 2014. "It was a bold action and the beginning of restoration of justice to our people. Surely, the pain of the relatives of the more than 5,000 victims of American terrorism in Cuba will not fade away but the recognition of past mistakes is the only way," said Alejandro Castro.

By "mistakes" he meant only the United States policy towards Cuba. In this vein, he described as "comforting" the fact that "We heard President Obama recognizing how wrong the policy of the previous 10 presidents of the United States to Cuba was."

Immediately afterwards, Alejandro Castro said that the continuing embargo imposed by the United States is a shame, because it prevents Cuba from importing very essential goods such as medicines for the treatment of small children. "The embargo has been precisely the main tool of terrorism against Cuba for more than 50 years," he said, adding that his country relies on international solidarity for its complete abolition.

In response to a question about the health condition of Fidel Castro, his nephew replied that the long-time president of Cuba is in good physical condition, he occupies himself with reading and writing, not missing the opportunity to meet with leaders of other countries during their visits to Cuba. "Over the next few days he will meet with the five liberated heroes which will become global news." In his words, 88-year-old Fidel is devoting most of his time to science. He has studied two plants with high nutritional value, and how they can be used as food for both animals and humans. In this way, Fidel Castro wants to help solve the problem of hunger in different parts of the world.

Alejandro Castro's visit in Athens coincides with the Cuban Film Festival organized at cinema Studio New Star Art Cinema from 8-14 January to mark 56 years of the Cuban revolution.

Tomorrow he will be one of the main participants in an event dedicated to international solidarity organized by the Greek-Cuban Society for Friendship and Solidarity at the same cinema.

His programme in Athens includes a meeting with Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis, representatives of local governments and visits to historical sites associated with the left-wing movement in Greece. The Greek translation of the book by Alejandro Castro will be presented on 12 January, and a day later, he will deliver a lecture before students of the Panteion University of Athens.