TEXT OF ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT TO U. S. EDITORS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000400350031-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 2, 1999
• Sequence Number: 31
• Publication Date: April 21, 1961
• Content Type: NSPR

i'~F:W ;~.'O1tK"'ltlll5 APR? 2 1 1961 FOIAb3b
? ? unitized -Approved For Release :CIA-RDP75-001
xt of ~1dd.~PSS b ~ P.~esident to ~:1. S.-~ Editors,
Following is the text of Pres-
ident Iiennedy's speech ,yester=
day at the convention in Wash-
~fngton of the American Society
?of Newspaper P~ditprs, as re=
t;orded by The Ne}v.-.York Times.
The President of a great,
democracy such as ours and
.~ the editors of great news-,
' papers , such a yours owe `a
conunon obligation to .the
} people-an obligation to pre-
{ sent the facts, to ::present
them with candor and to pre-
--sent. them in perspective.
'~ It is with that obligation in
mind that I have decided;i?1
the last twenty-four hours to
'discuss briefly at this time .
the recent events in Cuba.
On that unhappy island, as
in so many other arenas of
the contest for freedom, the
news has grown worse in-
stead of better.
I have emphasized before
~? that this .was a struggle of
Cuban "patriots against a
,Cuban dictator. ~ ,While we
"could not be expected to hide
our sympathies, we made it
repeatedly clear that the
armed forces of this country
iR~ 'would not intervene 'in any-
- way.
Any unilateral American
intervention in the absence
of an external attack upon
ourselves or an ally would
~+have been contrary to. our
':.traditiclns and to our interna-
' national obligations. But, let
-tlrc record show that our x?e-
atraint is not inexhaustible,
~, :Should it ever appear that
the- inter-American doctx?ine
'. of tioninterferencemeyely con- -
.teals or excuses a policy of
non-action; if the nations of
this hemisphere should fail ,
to meet their commitments =
'against outside 'Communist
penetration, then I want it
'.clearly understood that this .
.Government will not hesitate
in meeting its primary obliga-
tions, which are the security
of our nation.
"i3loody Streets of Eudapest".
Should that time ever come,
we do -not intend to be ]ec-
turcd on ilttervention by those
~ whose character was stamped
for all time on the bloody .
streets of Budapest. Nor
. would we expect or accept the
same outcome which this
.small band of gallant Cuban
l refugees must have known
', .that they were chancing, de-
termined as they were,
against heavy odds, to pursue
their courageous attempts to
'regain their island's freedom.
But Cttb~is~nel;l~a7n_ ~loa~n
~ !onto itself. -- {i, ~t
~-
--"'~"~ ~~~~~~ ~- ~~ Associated Pre+s tVirepholo
IiI;I~'OPL KLNiv~L+'IDI' SPOK Tlic Presiclpnt tvitlt'Turncr
Catledgc, pre5ulent of the A:+ttertcan Society taf Neti~spaper
Editors and ntanaging ecli4;~r of..Tite New fork Times, yes-
F'. Kennedy.'s speech before the
terday in 1Vashington ".
nettispaper group was c 4riecl, on tlto radio and television.
_ , .
That is'not the reel ~.'of a"
mercenary. He has go~e now
to join in the mountain-count-
less..other gueu?illa~~ightcrs
who. are equally chi ermined
that the dedicatio~~f of thoso
who-gave their liv;.;s shall"not
be "forgatten.a.nct'that Cuba
must not be abaL^,cloned to the
Communists. t1t~d,we do not`
intend to~ abati~un it either.
I+'htal ~Vor,;l I7nspokbn
The Cubap'a people have not
yet .spolcen;;,..lieir final piece,
and I hav;^ no doubt ihat?.
-they. ancl.;~~he Revolutionary
Coizncll, ly~d by br?. Cardona
-and numbers of the fam-
ilies ofd the Revolutionary
Courici?j I am informed by
-the d~~:tor yesterday; are fn-
voivcs} themselves in the is-
landwill continue to speak
aut1` or a free and independent
Cu,'~a.
' hseanwhile, we will not ac-
c=':`pt Mr, Castro's attempt to"
[ame . thi atio for the
r~rlt~a~ee~s-e
tune supporters now , regard. I unlike perhaps some ocncrs,
his repression. But there are there can be no noddle ground.
-from this sobering episode.
Power is the hallma~c~ of
this offensive-power eta ais? :~
cipline and defeat: T legiti-
mate discontent o - yearning
people is exploit .The legiti-
mate trapping , of self-deter-
mination ar employed.. but`:
once in pot ? all talk of dis-
content is ,epressed. All self=
detetmit ~tion disappears and
of fl ~e is betrayed; its in
Cuba into a reign. of terror,
'~1`iose wlxo, on?instrtaction, -:
st`{g'ed automatic riots in the
Teets of free nations over:
the efforts of :a sntall group .
' of young Cubans ?to regain ;
their freedom should recall
the long roll-call of refitgecs
who cannot noav,.g'o, back to
Hungary, to North liorea, to t
North Vietnam, East Ger- .
many or.,to Poand, on to any
of the other lands from which
a steady stream of refugees j
poured forth in el?quent testi- F
moray to the cruel oppression
now holding sway iri ?their ~!
. homeland.
We dare not fail to see the
insidious nature of 'this new
and deeper struggle.. We dare
not fail to grasp, the new con-
cept, the new tools, the new`'
sense of urgency we will need
to combat it, whether in Cuba '
or South Vietnam: A.nd we ,
-dare not fail to realize that
this struggle is taking place
every day without fanfare in
thousands 'of 'villages and
markets clay and night and in'.
classrooms all over .the globe
The message of: Cuba, "of~?
Laos,- of the rising din of
Communist voices in Asia and'.
?Latin. America; these mes=
sages are a11. the same The
complacent, the self indul-?
gent, the soft aocieties are ,
about to be swept away with
the debris of history. Only the
strong, mtly the industrious,!
only the determined, only the'
courageous, only the vision-
ary. who deternune the. real,
nature of our strugglo can';
possibly survive: ` ?
Traditional Outlook '
No ~grcater taslt faces this
cotantry or this Adminlstra-
tion, . no other ~ cltallengc is.;
more deserving of our .every.
effort and energy. Too long'.
we have? -fixed our eyes on
traditional military needs; on
armies prepared to cross.,
borders; on missiles poised for. `.
flighty Now it should be clear
that this is no longer enough; '
that our security may- be lost ,~.
piece by piece, country by ~;
country, without the Tying of s
a single. missile or the cross-
ing,of a single border..,
We intend to profit ,from
this IessO.n: ~Ve intend to re,;,
it n r Trent. our.;
~'A~~~kQ~oQ~B~~ties .;'
and our. institutions hero ir>'
this community. We intend :'