On November 6, 1940, when Fidel Castro was just 14 years old, he wrote this letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The young Fidel opens his letter with “My good friend Roosevelt” and asks the President to “give me a ten dollars bill green american” since he had not seen one. In a postscript, he even offers his help with the industrial sector by indicating that he can show the President “the biggest (minas) of iron in the land.” (There’s an interesting discrepancy in the letter: in 1940, Fidel was 14 years old, not 12 as he states.) Years later, Fidel Castro told a reporter who was interviewing him in 1975 that he did, in fact, receive correspondence from the White House thanking him for his letter, but he never received the $10 bill. Letter from Fidel Castro to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 11/06/1940. (National Archives Identifier: 302040) Transcription: Santiago de Cuba, November 6th 1940 Mr. Franklin Roosevelt President of the United States: My good friend Roosevelt: I don’t know very English, but I know as much as write to you. I like to hear the radio, and I am very happy, because I heard in it, that you will be President for a new (periodo). I am twelve years old. I am a boy but I think very much, but I do not think that I am writing to the President of the United States. If you like, give me a ten dollars bill green american in the letter, because never, I have not seen a ten dollars bill green american and I would like to have one of them. My address is: Sr. Fidel Castro Colegio de Dolores Santiago de Cuba Oriente Cuba I don’t know very English but I know very much Spanish and I suppose you don’t know very Spanish but you know very English because you are American but I am not American. Thank you very much Good by. Your friend, F. Castro (signed) Fidel Castro If you want iron to make your ships I will show to you the bigest (minas) of iron in the land. They are in Mayorí, Oriente, Cuba. #Castro #Cuba #FidelCastro #letters #FDR
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 18:27:00 +0000
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