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Carter in Cuba as the first US President to visit since revolution
( 2002-05-13 08:49 ) (7 )

Flashing his trademark smile, Jimmy Carter arrived in Cuba on Sunday and became the first US president -- in or out of office -- to visit the country since the 1959 revolution that put Fidel Castro in power.

Dressed in a gray suit, Castro, 75, greeted Carter, 77, at the airport with a handshake and symbolically threw open the doors of the island to the former American head of state.

Castro said the former president could speak with anyone ``even if they do not share our endeavors,'' an obvious reference to human rights groups. He also said Carter could go anywhere - including Cuban scientific centers, which US officials recently claimed could be working toward making biological weapons.

Carter said he and his wife, Rosalynn, had traveled here as friends of the Cuban people and hoped to meet many during their five-day stay.

After their private jet arrived Sunday morning, Castro escorted the Carters down a red carpet and over to a wooden podium with the Cuban and American flags flying alongside. They stood at attention for the playing of the Cuban and the American national anthems. The ``Star-Spangled Banner'' is rarely heard in Cuba, though it was also played when the Baltimore Orioles competed against a Cuban all-star baseball team here in 1999.

``It is no secret that for almost a century there have not been optimal relations between the two states,'' Castro told Carter in his brief remarks. ``However, I wish to state that in the four years of your tenure as president, you had the courage to make efforts to change the course of those relations. That is why those of us who were witnesses to that attitude see you with respect.''

Castro also told Carter he was welcome to expand his scheduled visit later this week to a biotechnology institute to include other similar institutions after recent US charges his country is trying to develop biological weapons.

``You will have free and complete access - together with any specialists of your choosing - to that or any other of our most prestigious scientific research centers, some of which have been recently accused, just a few days before your visit, of producing biological weapons,'' said Castro, who has denied the accusations.

Carter has a science background, but in nuclear technology. He has a bachelor's degree in science from the US Naval Academy and as an officer in the Navy, did graduate work in nuclear technology and nuclear physics.

Reading his address in Spanish, Carter said he looked forward to meeting with Castro, as well as ``representatives of religious groups and others to examine the ideas that are important for Rosalynn and me,'' including peace, human rights, democracy and the easing of human suffering.

Afterward, Castro joined the Carters in a black Soviet-made Zil limousine for the trip to their hotel. The limousine was a gift to Cuba from then-Soviet leader Leonid I. Brezhnev in the mid-1970s and is used only for the most distinguished of guests.

Castro has been Cuba's head of state during the administrations of 10 American presidents. With none were relations less hostile than with Carter's.

As president from 1977-81, Carter helped re-establish diplomatic missions in both countries and negotiated the release of thousands of political prisoners. He also made it possible for Cuban exiles to visit relatives on the island and, for a short time, for other Americans to travel here freely.

But a US trade embargo is still in place after four decades and relations are as chilly as ever. The American government also restricts travel here for most of its citizens.

Carter, the first former or sitting US president to visit Cuba since Calvin Coolidge came in 1928, has emphasized this is a private visit and that he will not be negotiating with the Cuban government.

Washington and Cuban exiles want Carter, who has made a post-presidential career out of monitoring elections in developing countries, to talk bluntly with his host about human rights and democracy.

Cuban officials and a growing number of Americans who oppose US sanctions hope Carter will publicly condemn the trade embargo. Carter has long opposing the sanctions.

Carter is to make a live televised address to the Cuban people Tuesday and will meet with religious and human rights groups on Thursday. The delegation is to depart Cuba around midday Friday.