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Nikita Khrushchev and Fidel Castro Speeches to the United Nations General Assembly Xd3120 (1960)

1960 · Short film · 6 min

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Synopsis

Excerpts of the 1960 addresses to the 15th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City delivered by Nikita Krushchev, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1958-1964) on October 13, and Fidel Castro, the Prime Minister of Cuba (1959-1976, and President from 1976-2008) on September 26 (0:09). Khrushchev begins his address to the Assembly, which was a response to James J. Wadsworth, the representative of the U.S. who spoke out against the U.S.S.R. in a prior speech. Khrushchev describes the U.S. as an imperialist power as the audience claps approval. It was also during this same U.N. General Assembly speech that the notorious “shoe-banging incident” supposedly occurred. During a debate on a Soviet resolution decrying colonialism on October 12, Khrushchev was infuriated by a statement made by Filipino delegate Lorenzo Sumulong that charged the Soviets with employing a double standard by decrying colonialism while establishing its political presence across Eastern Europe. The authenticity of Khrushchev banging his shoe on the table has since been debated due to varying accounts by journalists at the Assembly but is often remembered as a key moment of his political legacy. At (3:34) Fidel Castro begins his address. He discusses Cuba as a former colony of the U.S. and the last country in America to free itself from Spanish colonial rule and denounces imperialism and colonialism. The speech, at 269 minutes, was the…

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Running time
6 minutes
Collection
Ephemeral Films

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