From the Streets of Havana: Fidel Castro Ally Remembers Leader

As Cuba prepares for the funeral of its long-term leader Fidel Castro, Sputnik Radio’s Brian Becker of Loud & Clear interviewed Luis Moron, one of Castro’s allies, in Havana. In their discussion, a more intimate, personal picture emerges of the man who was a living icon until his final breath.

Moron had been suffering from a painful ulcer when Castro invited him to an event at Revolutionary Square. "I was offered a prawn cocktail with a lot of mayonnaise, a lot of mayonnaise. I told the waiter, 'I'm sorry, I cannot accept it. I have an ulcer, a bleeding ulcer.'"

Castro had overheard parts of the conversation and immediately turned to Moron to lend his knowledge on ulcers, and specifically on how Moron could sharpen his health generally.

"Fidel helped me. He wasn’t in the conversation, but he helped me," Moron said.  

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​Castro asked about Moron’s health habits, such as smoking. "You have to quit smoking. I quit smoking, you can do the same," Castro told him. "You drink coffee? [Castro] asked. Yes I do. Stop drinking coffee!" Castro then detailed the types of bacteria that can cause ulcers, Moron said. "He was my doctor, basically," Moron told Loud & Clear.

  

Following the conversation, Castro requested the waiter to deliver a special cocktail to Moron. "The [waiter] couldn’t believe it," Moron continued. 

As Castro mingled with other party goers, the waiter said to Moron, "Luis, this man did you the greatest honor. I’ve only seen him do this twice. Once with Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and now with you."

Confused, Moron inquired further. "What is it? He gave me a cocktail." The waiter replied, "No, he prepared those himself. You are basically eating a shrimp cocktail which was actually prepared by Fidel Castro."

"I didn’t want to eat anything for the next 24 hours," Moron chuckled. 

"So he was your doctor and your chef?" Becker probed. "Yes…well, don’t quote me, Brian," Moron responded, laughing.

Moron had always seen Castro as a President, an international icon, and the leader of the Cuban revolution. "But from that day on, I just realized I was in front of a human being," Moron said, adding that Castro, "made it a point to be human with everyone."

Moron nonetheless did not quit smoking, and stubbornly persisted in drinking coffee. But equipped with Castro’s doses of shrimp and wisdom, he attacked the source of his ulcer. "I don’t have a bleeding ulcer anymore," Moron said.