New York Times

January 16, 1958.p. 8.

Castro Disavows Presidential Aim

Cuban Rebel Chief in Article Outlines His Program—Would Impeach Batista

Fidel Castro has disclaimed any aspiration to the Presidency of Cuba either in a replacement of the present regime by a provisional government or in the next elected administration.

The Cuban rebel chief’s program and views were set forth in a signed article in today’s issue of the magazine Coronet. The statement was obtained by Andrew St. George, a writer, who spent four weeks with him Oct. 14 to Nov. 10 in the Sierra Maestra for Coronet and Look.

Señor Castro proposed to arrest President Fulgencio Batista and his Cabinet officers and “impeach them before special revolutionary tribunals.” He repudiated earlier programs for nationalization of properties, saying this “enfeebles private enterprise” and would hamper industrialization, for which he invited foreign investment.

Meanwhile Señor Castro said he had instructed that his own family’s sugar crop that contributes a third of the national income.

Provision of Constitution

“Quite apart from my personal reluctance to enter the Presidential competition so soon, our Constitution as it now stands would prohibit it,” Señor Castro said. “Under its age requirement clause, I am, at 31, far too young to be eligible for the Presidency, and will remain so for another ten years.”

Actually, Article 139 of the Cuban Constitution provides that a President “be at least 35 years of age.” So Señor Castro would be eligible much earlier than he believed. Señor Castro said his program included:

• Immediate freedom for al civil and military political prisoners. The Batista Government, he said, has imprisoned dozens of officers and hundreds of enlisted men.
• Freedom of information.
• Restoration of Constitutional rights.
• The elimination of corruption by creating a career civil service whose salaries would be high enough to live on “without having to accept bribes.”
• A campaign against illiteracy, which may affect 1,000,000 persons in Cuba, and education for better farming, diet and health.
• Land reform for “hundreds of thousands” of small tenant-farmers, the clearing up of title to many properties and the provision of  “just compensation of expropriated owners.”
• Industrialization and an increase in employment levels, as 1,000,000 persons of a population of 6,000,000 may be unemployed except for the four months of cane harvesting. Señor Castro proposed a fruit-canning industry; expanding processing of sugar and byproducts, light metal, leather, paper and textile industries, and a long-range cargo fleet.

23 Rebels Reported Slain

Special to The New York Times

HAVANA, Jan. 15—Twenty-three rebels were killed by Government troops in the zone known as California at Los Hombritos, near Bayamo, in Oriente Province, according to a statement issued by army headquarters this morning.

Some arms and uniforms were captured following the encounter, headquarters said. No casualties were suffered by the army, the statement added.