-DATE- 19880502 -YEAR- 1988 -DOCUMENT_TYPE- APPEARANCE -AUTHOR- F.CASTRO -HEADLINE- RECEIVED CPUSTAL MEDAL -PLACE- CUBA -SOURCE- HAVANA TELEVISION SVC -REPORT_NBR- FBIS -REPORT_DATE- 19880503 -TEXT- Castro Expresses Appreciation for CPUSTAL Medal FL0305015988 Havana Television Service in Spanish 0000 GMT 2 May 88 [Text] Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, first secretary of the PCC Central Committee and president of the Councils of State and Ministers, has received a gold medal conferred by the Permanent Congress for the Labor Unity of Latin American and Caribbean Workers [CPUSTAL] for his contributions over many years to the struggle against the Third World countries' foreign debt and the establishment of a new international economic order. On behalf of the Latin American labor movement, CPUSTAL General Secretary Roberto Prieto presented the medal, which was being conferred for the first time, to Fidel. The commander in chief expressed his appreciation, saying that it was a great honor. Later, he referred to the Third World's current problems regarding the foreign debt and the struggle of all humankind for a peaceful future. [Begin Castro recording] Today we see there is hope for peace in the steps being taken, in the agreements that have been reached. But today more than ever we can say that there will not be peace without development. We have tried to express what happens in our--in Third World countries by comparing it to the nuclear war. The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagaskai each killed approximately 120,000 citizens. We are noting that as many children--I am not talking about people but children--die every 3 days in the Third World as the number who died in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki blasts. They could be saved with some medical services and some food. Therefore, the reality is that a bomb, such as the ones of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, explodes every 3 days among Third World children die in the Third World every 3 days as the number of those who die in a nuclear explosion? This is why now that there is talk about peace, disarmament, and detente as a condition for life for all human kind, we should call for using those resources that would be saved to solve the foreign debt problem, the problem of a new international economic order, the problem of development. It would not be correct, it would not be appropriate to talk about world peace. I believe that at the same time we should welcome with hope these steps and this progress--we workers should wave with more strength and firmness than ever the banners that were waved in 1985. They have to be waved even more in this unfinished battle. The main characters that will end this agony are going to be the workers, so that we can really talk about the new international economic order, of development, and peace. It is within this framework, with these objectives, that we receive this great honor. It is not something that we deserve but something we have to make ourselves worthy of through the struggle. Thank you very much. [applause] [end recording] -END-