Fidel Castro Issues Statement Apparently In Support Of U.S.-Cuba Diplomacy...."We will always defend cooperation and friendship with all the peoples of the world, among them our political adversaries."

 Reuters |  By Daniel Trotta Posted: 01/26/2015 11:58 pm EST 

HAVANA, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Monday appeared to lend his support to talks with the United States in his first comments about his longtime adversary since both countries agreed last month to restore diplomatic ties.

But Castro stopped short of an enthusiastic endorsement of the rapprochement, announced on Dec. 17 by his younger brother and Cuba's current president, Raul Castro, and U.S. President Barack Obama.

In this July 11, 2014 file photo, Cuba's Fidel Castro speaks during a 
meeting with Russia's
President Vladimir Putin, in Havana, Cuba. | ASSOCIATED PRESS

"I don't trust the policy of the United States nor have I had an exchange with them, but this does not mean ... a rejection of a peaceful solution to conflicts or the dangers of war," Fidel Castro, 88, said in a statement published on the website of Cuba's Communist Party newspaper Granma.The United States and Cuba held historic high-level talks last week in Havana that are expected to lead to the re-establishment of diplomatic ties severed by Washington in 1961.

"Any peaceful or negotiated solution to the problems between the United States and the peoples or any people of Latin America that doesn't imply force or the use of force should be treated in accordance with international norms and principles," Fidel Castro said.

"We will always defend cooperation and friendship with all the peoples of the world, among them our political adversaries." He took power in a 1959 revolution and spent much of his 49 years in power railing against the United States, which never succeeded in many attempts to oust him.

He was finally forced into retirement in 2008 by poor health and was succeeded by his brother Raul, who is now 83. more