Conversation between N S Khrushchev and F Castro in the car 24 May 1963 On May 24 1963 in the car during the ride to the military exercises Fidel Castro asked N S Khrushchev if it was true that Nikita Sergeyevich was unhappy with Rashidov for some reason Nikita Sergeyevich responded that possibly the reason for Castro’s question was the fact that some time ago Rashidov was reprimanded for an incorrect approach to selecting a candidate for the position of the head of the advisers’ apparatus in Cuba The candidate that he proposed Titov did not fit the requirements that are set for a Soviet official to be send to Cuba to carry out advisory functions Sending Titov to Cuba was most likely the most appropriate way which Rashidov had chosen to get rid of Titov whom Rashidov did not like for some reason It looks like we would have to consider the issue of recalling Titov because his stay in Cuba does not produce the results we expected Overall one has to say that we should send the very best of our best cadres to Cuba the people who would be able to work in Cuba taking into account all the specific character of the moment and the circumstances Instead our organizations often send you some office people bureaucrats who are unable to provide real concrete and effective assistance And you on your part help them become even more bureaucratic you provide them with cars telephone office rooms give them security personnel but all those attributes don’t produce anything other than a gap between the people the laborers and those advisors For what reason for example you give them telephones when none of them can speak Spanish asked Nikita Sergeyevich Fidel Castro jokingly replied that it is done so that they could speak to each other So since they are not being sent there to talk to each other but to provide substantive assistance I think said Nikita Sergeyevich we have to take a comprehensive look at the entire issue of our specialists and advisors There are too many of them in Cuba and too many of them work ineffectively and become just a burden Therefore I recommend that you together with our comrades should examine the lists of those advisers concretely name by name and keep only those of them who actually provide Cuba real practical help All the rest of them should be recalled back home and the earlier the better Dictated by translator N Leonov signature Source Russian State Archive of Contemporary History RGANI Fond 52 opis 1 delo 57 Translated by Svetlana Savranskaya for the National Security Archive