Oct. 17, 1962 - Premier Ahmed Ben Bella of Algeria (center) joined today with Premier Fidel Castro in demanding that the U.S. give up its naval base at Guantanamo Bay. A communiqué, issued by the Cuban Government after Mr. Ben Bella had departed for New York following a 24-hour state visit in Havana, said the two leaders found they had “essentially identical points of view” after lengthy talks on international affairs. Premiers Ben Bella and Castro agreed on “the immediate necessity of evacuating troops and dismantling foreign military bases” around the world, including the Guantanamo base. Before leaving Havana, Mr. Ben Bella pledged to Premier Castro general support for his Communist-directed Cuban regime, promised him a medal, and invited him to visit Algeria. According to the communiqué, he and Mr. Castro also agreed on the need for “the unconditional abolition of colonialism, imperialist oppression, and neo-colonialism” and said that such achievements were “indispensable for the elimination of the catastrophic dangers of a thermonuclear war and for the consolidation of world peace and security.”
