LETTER TO FIDEL CASTRO FROM ROBERT F. WILLIAMS

August 28, 1966, Peking, China

Dear Fidel:

First of all, I want to thank you and the Cuban people for assisting me when I was escaping from the United States. I will always be grateful to the Cuban people, and I will always be a friend of the Cuban Revolution. In fact, this is the very reason that I take the liberty to write you this letter from my second exile. The reason that I bother to bring these matters to your attention, or later to the attention of the public, if necessary, is because I find it impossible to believe that Commandante Vallejo, Peniero, and others close around you have fully, truthfully, and faithfully informed you of these ignominious experiences that I encountered while living in Cuba.

Shortly after my arrival in Cuba, I requested support for the Afro-American struggle in the United States. I first requested an information office with the purpose of acquainting the peoples of Latin America, Asia and Africa with the revolutionary potential of the Afro-American struggle and the brutal nature of U.S. racism and its relation to U.S. imperialism. This revolutionary request was never granted. I also requested permission and facilities to broadcast both long and short wave, especially to the Afro-American people in the United States. After much bickering and red tape, I was finally allowed to proceed with the broadcast from Radio Progresso, however, the facilities of Radio Havana, which was to be the short-wave broadcast in the name of Radio Free Dixie, were completely denied. I was told that this was because Radio Havana is the official voice of the Cuban government and that the Cuban government could not be identified in this way with the Afro-American struggle. I was never allowed the use of the shortwave facilities which would have enabled me to reach the great masses of our people all over the United States and especially on the West Coast where there is a heavy concentration of my fellow workers and followers.