The Bronx is not a place you would expect to find Cuban leader Fidel Castro, but he paid a visit in 1995, and the man who invited him is writing a book commemorating the 20th anniversary of that memorable event. NY1's Erin Clarke filed the following report.

World leaders came together in New York in 1995 for the 50th anniversary of the United Nations, but Fidel Castro, the communist firebrand who was then leading Cuba, was excluded from nearly every celebration outside the UN, including a banquet hosted by then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

"Whether you like him or dislike or not, the fact is, that's disrespectful," said Julio Pabon, a longtime Bronx activist and member of the National Puerto Rican Business Council.

At the time, Pabon felt the Hispanic community had to do something about the snub. Why not extend an invitation to the Commandante to visit the Bronx? He probably wouldn't come, but the gesture would be appreciated, right?

"Fidel said yes," Pabon said. "I said, 'What?'"

What Pabon thought would be a private dinner with local business leaders was turned into an event with about 300 people by Rep. Jose Serrano and a few others.

The Secret Service urged Pabon to change the location. He said people threatened him. But Castro stil came to Jimmy's Bronx Cafe, then a popular Bronx restaurant on Fordham Road.

"The minute the doors opened, it was like a rock star, man," Pabon said. "People jumped up and started applauding him."

The dictator embraced the crowd, told jokes about baseball, posed for pictures and signed plenty of autographs.

"His security person is overwhelmed, grabs him the elbow and tries to guide him towards his table. He turns around and puts his hand on his hand and says 'It's OK,'" Pabon said. "And he just walked into the crowd, shook everybody's hands." 

Pabon said the Castro he met wasn't the man portrayed as a villain by critics.

"What he said was what impacted me the most. He said, 'Is this not going to hurt you in any way?' And that blew my mind," Pabon said. 

With relations between the U.S. and Cuba warming and the 20th anniversary of Castro's visit approaching, Pabon thinks it's the perfect time to tell his story.

Pabon plans to have his book out by the end of the summer, just in time for Hispanic Heritage Month in September.