WASHINGTON, April 17, 1961 (UPI) -- Secretary of State Dean Rusk said today the anti-Castro invasion of Cuba was not staged from American soil but that the United States is sympathetic with the aims of those participating. Rusk said the Cuban affair was one for the Cubans themselves to settle but that the United States was not indifferent to the extension of Communist tyranny in this hemisphere.
He pledged again that there would be no armed American intervention in Cuba. He hedged, however, when asked at his news conference whether this meant the United States was abandoning its traditional right to go to the aid of endangered American citizens.
Rusk said that was a question he would have to leave for the future. Nor would he predict what action the United States might take if Russia intervenes on Castro's side.
While ruling out U.S. intervention to aid the anti-Castro forces, Rusk said there was no doubt of U.S. sympathy for those fighting for freedom.
Rusk said that, on the basis of the information so far, he did not believe that what was taking place in Cuba was a "full-scale invasion."
There had been landings on the coast by anti-Castro forces, he said, and disorders were mounting in the country. But he would not characterize it as an all-out affair as yet.
Rusk dodged a number of specific questions on Cuba on the grounds that the matter was under debate in the United Nations.
He did, however, reject Premier Fidel Castro's assertion that the United States was behind the landings and other attacks.
This is not the first time, Rusk said, that a dictator has tried to blame his troubles on a foreign country.
Rusk obviously decided to avoid any detailed discussion of the Cuban situation, contending that the current UN debate made it unwise or impossible for him to answer some questions.
He declined to say how close his contacts had been with Miro Cardona and other members of the anti-Castro revolutionary council in New York.
