Sept. 11, 1962 - Premier Fidel Castro declared today that Congressional demands for energetic U.S. action against his regime were proof of “chaos” in the United States. He asserted that the U.S. is “playing with fire and with war.” In a three-hour speech in Havana that was broadcast by the Havana radio, Castro repeated his charge that the U.S. was preparing to attack Cuba. He said repeatedly that an attack on Cuba would mean defeat for the U.S. “We do not want imperialism to commit suicide on our coast,” he said, “but we shall stand firm. We can proclaim serenely that we are prepared to die at our posts, but we do not know if the Government of the U.S. and the generals of the Pentagon and those Senators who proclaim war against our country are also prepared to die. We are not sardines! The shark should not mistake us to be — because this time it could well be his last mistake.” Castro said a naval blockade of Cuba would be an act of war and that Americans who urged such action “should be sent to an insane asylum, along with those who call for a military invasion of our country.”
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