Apr. 26, 1963 - Premier Fidel Castro of Cuba arrived in the Soviet Union early today on Premier Khrushchev’s personal invitation. Tass, the Soviet press agency, announced that the Cuban leader had landed at the sub-Arctic airport of Murmansk after a nonstop flight from Havana aboard a Soviet TU-114 airliner. Castro and his party, described by Tass as “dear guests,” were met in Murmansk by a Soviet delegation led by Anastas I. Mikoyan, First Deputy Premier and member of the Communist party’s ruling Presidium. Tass said the Cuban visitors and the Soviet welcoming party boarded a special train for Moscow, where they are due tomorrow. The Cuban leader’s visit is expected to strengthen the Soviet Union’s hand in its ideological dispute with Communist China. Moscow is likely to use Castro’s tour as an indication that he is squarely in the Soviet camp. It was Castro’s first trip abroad since 1960, when he first met Khrushchev at the United Nations.
