Castro Takes Blame for Gay Persecution 

Former Cuban President Fidel Castro has taken the blame for the wave of homophobia launched by his revolutionary government in the 1960s, saying it happened because he was distracted by other problems.

According to Reuters, Castro told Mexican newspaper La Jornada that the rounding up of gays as supposed counterrevolutionaries who were then placed in labor camps was a "great injustice" born out of Cuba's history of antigay discrimination.

He said he is not homophobic, but "if anyone is responsible [for the persecution], it's me. I'm not going to place the blame on others.

"In those moments I was not able to deal with that matter (of homosexuals). I found myself immersed, principally, in the Crisis of October [Cuban Missile Crisis], in the war, in policy questions," he said.

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