-DATE- 19850218 -YEAR- 1985 -DOCUMENT_TYPE- INTERVIEW -AUTHOR- F. CASTRO -HEADLINE- CASTRO DISCUSSES TIES WITH SPAIN -PLACE- HAVANA -SOURCE- MADRID EFE -REPORT_NBR- FBIS -REPORT_DATE- 19850219 -TEXT- Ties With Spain PA181725 Madrid EFE in Spanish 1609 GMT 18 Feb 85 [Text] Havana, 18 Feb (EFE) - Fidel Castro said that he regretted that although relations between Cuba and Spain "are satisfactory," they have not improved and blamed this fact an the United States. In an exclusive interview with EFE, the Cuban president said that relations between Madrid and Havana have prospered "as much as possible," but not "as much as they should" because Cuba is a "tenacious objector" to U.S. policy in Latin America and the world and "to a certain extent Spain is an ally of the United States in political and even in military matters." Along the same line he said that Spain's incorporation into NATO was a "colossal historical blunder" and warmed that that move and Spain's eventual membership in the EEC could spoil its "historical privilege" of exerting political, cultural, and economic influence in Latin America and serving as a link between industrialized Europe and the Third World. However, he stated that he understands "clearly that because of Spain's geographical position as part of the European continent and its economic interests, it may indeed be convenient for it to join the European Common Market." He added: "In no way do we intend to question Spain's absolute right to seek ways to accommodate its commercial needs and requirements of development. However, we must express our concern, which stems from the bitter experience we have had and the truly abusive exploitation we have suffered at the hands of industrialized capitalist nations." During the 6-hour interview granted to Ricardo Utrilla, president and general director of EFE, and the agency's Havana representative, Marisol Marin, the Cuban bead of state also blamed the United States for the fact that he has not yet been invited to visit Spain and other Western European nations and for the fact that the leaders of those countries do not travel to Cuba. "The day that our relations with the United States improve, and no one knows when that will happen, we will receive many more visitors and also more invitations," Castro said. "However, as long as so many people are worried about the United States' reaction... for many states and political leaders it is a veritable headache to extend an invitation even to visit us," he added. He added ironically, however, that he is "not eager" to travel to Western Europe. He added that some European countries, including Spain, had thought of extending him a group invitation, and thus elude individual responsibilities in the face of the United States, but he added that those plans never crystallized. (Havana political sources reported that those countries were Spain, France, Greece, and Sweden.) With regard to his unexpected and controversial stop over in Madrid last year, lie stressed that it had not been planned. His route from Moscow was altered "for understandable security reasons," because when he travels, actual "manhunts" are organized against him. Concerning the six members of the Basque Fatherland and Liberty organization [ETA], that Cuba received on 1 May 1984 from Panama, Castro said that although the 6-month stay the were initially granted has long expired, "we are not going to deport them or deny them hospitality." Whenever they are ready to leave they can leave," he said. The Cuban leader admitted that such an attitude entails risks for Cuba. We do not want to go on the record either as accomplices or as jail keepers of the ETA men," lie said. He added that ETA has attempted to establish links with the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) to explain "its problem," but said that the PCC has always eluded this. We will not get involved in Spanish affairs such as this one; no one can accuse us of that," he said. They were only accepted in Cuba, he insisted, on account of political considerations to Spain and Panama and humanitarian concerns regarding ETA members themselves. Asked about the situation of political prisoner Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, who is of Spanish descent and has been in prison for the past 20 years serving time on a 30 year sentence, Castro used strong language to rule out his release. He was charged with being chief of the Alfa-66 counterrevolutionary organization. "He deserved to be executed," Castro asserted. "As long as there is the danger of a U.S. attack on our country, and as long as U.S. hostility continues, we cannot take the risk of freeing Menoyo. I think that the Spanish people can understand that perfectly," Castro said. He said that he would like to give Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez proof of the his personal regard and friendship by releasing Menoyo, but that this is not possible because Cuba's national interests come first. Castro asked emphatically: "What would the Spanish people say if I asked the Spanish Government to release the ETA members currently in jail?... From the moral point of view, an ETA militant is more respectable than Menoyo, because ETA members are not mercenaries...Menoyo is more than a political prisoner. He is a traitor to his country because his actions were carried out from the United States, in the service of U.S. interests and against Cuba, and I understand that the ETA militants are not supported by any foreign power, and they do not work for any foreign power." After flatly ruling our any possibility of an interview with Menoyo, Castro said that the poet Armando Valladares, "who has not told one single truth," has never been disabled, which was proven when he was secretly filmed in his cell. He criticized the privileged treatment Valladares has received in Spain since his release. To emphasize his point, he recalled the Spanish Civil War, and Cuba's contribution to that republican cause in the form of some 1,000 fighters. He said: "Many Cubans died in Spain, fighting for the Spanish Republic. I do not think they died so that Madrid would be overindulgent with men like Valladares, or for men as Menoyo to be treated as great patriots. I wonder what they would say if they knew about this. I think that they died for higher ideals, and for much higher objectives... I do not think that they died for Spain's alliance with the United States, nor do I think that they died for Spain's entrance in NATO." Castro went further back in history to stress what he considered "a historical contradiction" between the current situation and the 1898 war. He said: "It is difficult for us to visualize Spain as a U.S. ally when only eight decades have passed since the U.S.-Spanish war over Cuba. Indeed, the United States fought its first imperialist war, also an opportunistic war, here." He added: "It seems like a historical paradox that, after eight decades, Cuba should be the country that defends its nationality, which is Cuban, but which also has a vast Spanish influence, in its culture and in blood ties, while Spain today has become a U.S. ally, and a NATO member. This is certainly a historical contradiction. I think we have advanced, while Spain has moved backwards. I must say so frankly, although I know that an opinion such as this usually raises resentment and criticism. I have even been accused of trying to meddle in Spain's political affairs. Although this is not my intention, it is my right, as I am a Spanish citizen, according to the theory of dual citizenship." -END-