Maybe this won’t translate but I laughed until my belly hurt when I read this so I’ll give it a try. The funniest part is that this actually happened and the reporter recalls it fondly.
Via this blog from Cuba I found an article in one of Cuba’s state newspapers, Juventud Rebelde. In the article the reported recounts how even though Fidel and Ho Chi Minh never met they nevertheless developed a long distance friendship. And part of that friendship was the exchange of gifts through diplomatic carriers.
When Fidel learned that the vietnamese love natural fruit ice cream he sent Ho Chi Minh several types of Cuban ice cream. The story never says what Ho Chi Minh sent Fidel in exchange, but I imagine something was sent back.
Then the reporter recollects that one time Fidel heard that the vietnamese were having a hard time getting food so he decided to help. He did this by sending over a briefcase full of bull frogs. Fidel, the reporter says, reasoned that since Vietnam and Cuba are both tropical countries the bull frogs would thrive and the vietnamese could then catch them and eat them.
The shipment of frogs, like the ice cream, had to go through diplomatic carriers on a trip that went through the USSR. The diplomat in charge of carrying the frogs had to stay overnight in a a Moscow hotel, and the frogs stayed in the same hotel room in the bathtub.
The blogger that referenced the article imagines the exchange when the diplomat was told of his frog carrying mission like this:
“Comrade, we are charging you with carrying a very secret shipment to our friends in Viet Nam.”
“Of course comrade! I ready and willing to sacrifice anything for the revolution!”
“Very well, take this briefcase full of frogs and take off.”
“Comrade, when you say frogs, is that code for nuclear plans? american bases?”
“Frogs is not code for anything. This briefcase is full of frogs, now go! That’s and order from Fidel!”
“(Shit, I spent 10 years training in spying techniques and here I am carrying a briefcase full of frogs!)”
