-DATE-
19870224
-YEAR-
1987
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
SPEECH
-AUTHOR-
F. CASTRO
-HEADLINE-
CALLING BRAZIL'S MORATORIUM HISTORIC
-PLACE-
BRAZIL
-SOURCE-
MADRID EFE
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS
-REPORT_DATE-
19870224
-TEXT-
CASTRO CALLS BRAZIL'S MORATORIUM 'HISTORIC'

PA240403 Madrid EFE in Spanish 0332 GMT 24 Feb 87

[Text] Havana, 23 Feb (EFE) -- President Fidel Castro today called Brazil's
decision to suspend payment of its foreign debt interest "historic" and
affirmed that "the day of the world's poor people has arrived."

Castro, who for years has been leading a campaign against paying the
foreign debt, declared that "this is the moment to turn the history of the
Third World people around" and that "from today on the people will speak of
a history before this moment and after this moment."

Regarding possible negotiation by Brazil with its creditors, Castro said
that "whether there are negotiations or not it will be the debtors who will
have the last word from now on."

Castro said that decisions such as this one are provoked by critical
situations and that the adoption of measures against Brazil now "are
impossible." But even if there are such measures Brazil "would have the
unanimous support of all the Third World countries."

Castro stated: "Brazil won the battle before it started. It is a giant
debtor, an economic giant, and a determining country for the future of the
Third World."

Fidel Castro said that "the big powers will try to quench the fire and to
find a solution" but Brazil will have the support of the Nonaligned
Movement and Latin American and socialist nations as well as "the
understanding of many capitalist countries."
-END-