It is nox obvious that Fidel Castro and his rebels in Oriente Province, Cuba, are carrying out a widespread campaign of kidnapping Americans.  Since last Thursday, when ten American and two Canadian engineers were captured at Moa Bay on the north shore, forty-five Americans and three Canadians have been seized.  The latest outrage was the kidnapping of four Americans from a United Fruit sugar plantation early yesterday morning.

Fidel Castro is perpetrating a major blunder from every possible point of view, including his own.  He could not have made a grater miscalculation of American public opinion or the reaction of the Government in Washington.

The basis for his actions was the deep resentment he and many Cubans feel toward the United States Government and the Pentagon for what is considered to be a policy of aiding the dictator, General Batista.  However, in the first place, there is no excuse for venting this resentment on innocent Americans who have nothing whatever to do with making policy.  In the second place, Fidel Castro is reacting at a time when American policy is not pro-Batista and when the dictator is not getting American arms or even fuel for Cuban Air Force planes, despite what the rebels believe.  Since last March the United States Government has refused to permit any arms to go to the Cuban forces.  This was a major policy move on the part of the State Department and, indeed the first time arms shipments have been blocked to Latin America since the Mutual Security Act was passed.

As Secretary Dulles said in his press conference yesterday, the United States is not going to pay "political blackmail" for the release of American prisoners in Cuba or elsewhere.  Moreover, it cannot be too often repeated that Cubans must fight their own battles and not expect the United States to fight for them.  American opinion naturally opposes the brutal and predatory type of dictatorship that General Batista runs.  This attitude is now being jeopardized by the kidnapping of innocent Americans and the endangering of American lives.