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In 1995, Castro visited the United States to address the United Nations during its 50th anniversary celebration. It was a visit that was quite telling, as divergent groups came out to embrace him and sing his praises. He was the honored guest at the Rockefeller family estate in New York. Yet, because of peaceful but serious protests, the honorific invitation had to be moved to the prestigious Pratt House, the headquarters for the Council of Foreign Relations, on East 68th Street in Manhattan. At that confab, he was met by retired Chase Manhattan Bank Chairman David Rockefeller and a fawning audience of internationalists.
Later, Castro visited and was feted and warmly received by real estate developer and publishing magnate Mortimer Zuckerman and other media moguls and opinion molders such as Barbara Walters, Peter Jennings, Mike Wallace and scores of other media personalities. Castro called them "the cream of the crop" and in return got a big hug and kiss from Diane Sawyer, the most beautiful of them all.
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