-DATE- 19600223 -YEAR- 1960 -DOCUMENT_TYPE- SPEECH -AUTHOR- F. CASTRO -HEADLINE- CASTRO SEEKS REVENUE SOURCES FOR HOUSING -PLACE- HAVANA -SOURCE- HAVANA UNION RADIOA -REPORT_NBR- FBIS -REPORT_DATE- 19600223 -TEXT- CUBA Feb. 23, 1960 CASTRO SEEKS REVENUE SOURCES FOR HOUSING (Editor's Note--E) Havana, Union Radio, in Spanish to Cuba, Feb. 20, at 2148 GMT carried a speech by Fidel Castro at an INAV ceremony in which Castro stresses that in building houses the revolution not only solves the housing problem but also the problem of gambling. Castro then explains at great length the savings inherent in the housing plan. He admits that the revenue of the Housing Institute is not adequate at present to cover housing requirements, and says that revenue from other sources must be sought. Castro hails the work of Pastorita Nunez and other INAV officials in the accomplishments of the past year, and hopes for even greater successes in the future. Castro concludes with a denunciation of those who slander the revolution, saying that he is absolutely sure that the people will not be deceived, that there will be no compromise because the will of the people is an indestructible force. Turning to U.S. promises to the measures to prevent these raids, he said: Private planes fly relatively slowly. They are not supersonic planes, but they fly between two bases without being discovered. These things are a shame for the North Americans. I have no proof that the authorities consent to these things, but I can say that if the U.S. does not want them to take place, if the U.S. had mobilized hundreds of agents to prevent them as it says--and still cannot prevent them, it is a sign that some service is functioning very poorly over there. Castro concluded his remarks on the plane incident by inviting U.S. "experts" to come to Cuba where proof of the statements he had made would be presented. It has been proven where the planes come from, he said. The proof the authorities wanted are here. The measures are up to them. At this point an announcer interrupted with a message said to be from U.S. evangelists in Cuba condemning the plan incident and asserting that the U.S. people look with favor on Cuba's economic efforts. Asked for his personal impressions of Mikoyan, Castro spoke of the Soviet official enthusiastically, stressing Mikoyan's tact and describing him as a person of character, untainted by hypocrisy. As for the Soviet-Cuban agreement, he described it as beneficial for Cuba and brushed aside a reporter's remark that Cuba was to be paid only 20 percent in dollars with the assertion: I wish we could make 100 agreements like this one. That would settle all our reserve and monetary problems. He pointed out further that although Cuba had extensive trade with the U.S., the balance of payments had been heavily against Cuba over a 10-year period. The agreement with Russia, he said, gives Cuba a favourable balance of some 60 million dollars in five years. In reply to a question as to whether Cuba would import oil-drilling machinery from the USSR, Castro said: The oil program was already being carried out before the agreement with the USSR. Now, of course, we can count on these resources and be sure that the program can be implemented. He added that Cuba hopes to process some iron ore, particularly hematite, and said that the country's immediate coal should be to satisfy its own requirements in steel production. He also said that Cuba planned to build both a refinery and a steel mill, once the amount of raw material available had been determined. Turning to the sugar trade with the United States, Castro pointed out that it was that country and not Cuba which had developed the quota system. He said that if the quota were eliminated, Cuba would compete freely on the U.S. market and might fare better. Asserting that there could be no valid criticism of the sale of sugar to the USSR, he pointed out that the sugar had not been taken from the U.S. quota but had been sold over and above the sugar earmarked for the United States. Castro dismissed the idea that the USSR would resell the sugar on the world market, noting that the Soviet-Cuban agreement stipulated that this would not be done. However, he added, this was the most debated point in the agreement. In reply to a reporter's question, he said that the agreement provided the USSR with the position of most favored nation with the exception of the United States, Cuba, he said, would get most-favored-nation treatment with the USSR, with the exception of those countries which had special advantage with the Soviet Union. Castro next replied to a series of internal economic questions. among other things he explained that the duration of restrictions on imports would be dependent on the development of the economy, pointing out that it was necessary to have a surplus of reserves. He also dismissed a rumor that it had been planned to ration gasoline and applauded a reported initiative by industrialists to invest 20 percent of their profits in new industries, schools, and other projects. In reply to a question concerning Venezuelan President Betancourt's recent criticism of Cuban-U.S. differences and the Cuban-Soviet agreement, Castro said that he did not have the text of Betancourt's statements, but did not accept the dispatches he had read as criticism. He added that Cuba had good relations with the Venezuelan Government. Asked about the Cuban merchant marine, Castro said that Cuba already had vessels, but was going to continue to develop the merchant marine. [Unreadable text], he said, we will not build ships; we will get them for sugar. In reply to a question about Cuban planes, he said: We do not have them. Nothing was said about arms in the talks with Mikoyan. But we reserve the right to buy the arms we need. The interview ended at 0657 GMT. -END-