Leaving Castro S Cuba

From Zeida's notes: In that summer of 1962 I was told to teach a group of basic secondary teachers a summer course in math. It was a nice group and we enjoyed it without ever talking of politics. But now my mind was made up. I was going to leave the country that very same year. Everything was completely controlled by the government. There was not any personal freedom. I didn't want my girls to grow up with such rigid controls. I wanted them free, so I had to leave. At the time she was not prepared for the obstacles she'd have to face. This is the story of one middle-class family who shares in the excitement of Castro's victory only to experience disillusionment and betrayal. Struggling against repression and economic hardships, Marina's mother, Zeida, a teacher and single mother, goes to extraordinary measures to protect her daughters and defend her principles. Marina Villa's illuminating account of life in Cuba during its communist transformation and the family's immigration to the United States is an inspiring gift that puts into full relief the Cuban-American experience. Marina uses excerpts from her mother's writings, interviews with friends and family members, and her own memories to tell her mother's story. Full of the same spirit her mother brought to her life, Leaving Castro's Cuba: The Story of an Immigrant Family recounts their journey while weaving a rich tapestry of familial sacrifice, courage, and love.

In this absorbing memoir, by turns humorous and heartbreaking, Eduardo Calcines recounts his boyhood and chronicles the conditions that led him to wish above all else to leave behind his beloved extended family and his home for a chance at a better future. Eduardo F. Calcines was a child of Fidel Castro's Cuba; he was just three years old when Castro came to power in January 1959. After that, everything changed for his family and his country. When he was ten, his family applied for an exit visa to emigrate to America and he was ridiculed by his schoolmates and even his teachers for being a traitor to his country. But even worse, his father was sent to an agricultural reform camp to do hard labor as punishment for daring to want to leave Cuba. During the years to come, as he grew up in Glorytown, a neighborhood in the city of Cienfuegos, Eduardo hoped with all his might that their exit visa would be granted before he turned fifteen, the age at which he would be drafted into the army.

"Mr. Lockwood's exciting book...holds many surprises for the reader who has seen the Cuban reality up to now only through the distorting prism of propaganda.... [During Mr. Lockwood's latest, 14-week visit to Cuba in 1965] he had 'a seven-day marathon conversation' with [Fidel], the transcription of which, with excellent photographs, constitutes the heart of the book.... A first-rate psychological document, this book is also an historical one in that it contains information necessary to the understanding of several conversional questions, such as the priority given agriculture in the development of the Cuban economy, the dissension between Moscow and Havana, or even the intellectual road by which Castro came to Marxism. Moreover, it provides particulars up to now unknown." Claude Julien, 'The New York Times Book Review' "Lockwood gives us crowds, posters, individual studies, Fidel in every possible mood; the cities, farms, country towns - most of Cuba is in the photographs.... Lockwood's text consists mainly of excerpts from several interviews he got from Fidel in 1965.... In one way or another Fidel touches on all the events of crucial importance from the beginning of the insurrection until 1965, and the interviews thus become an explanation of the revolution that we badly need." Jose Yglesias, 'The New Republic' "The author's questions [to Fidel] are tough and penetrating and they elicited the same kind of answers.... The lively record deserves and encourages serious study." K. G. Jackson, 'Harper's Magazine' "Given the paucity of scholarly work on contemporary Cuba and the difficulty of visiting the island, the photographs, interview materials, and interpretations of this gifted journalist must go high on the reading list of anyone, professional or lay person, who maintains a serious interest in Cuban affairs and in that most dramatic and important of twentieth-century Latin American leaders, Fidel Castro." Richard Fagan, 'Hispanic American Historical Review'

Describes how the policies of dictator Fidel Castro has affected the economy, social conditions, and international influence of Cuba.

Cuba was a playground for the wealthy in the 1950s. It was a place to bask in the sun during the day, and enjoy many fine nightclubs, restaurants, theaters, and casinos after the sun went down. Many wealthy Americans traveled to Cuba for both business and pleasure. In January of 1959, everything changed. I was a little girl in Cuba at that time. I was living a life of luxury with practically anything that my little heart desired. My family had a chauffeur and homes in the city, in the country, and at the beach. I had my own nanny. I had parents and grandparents that loved me and lived close by so that I could see them almost every day. I was truly living a fairy-tale existence. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, my world came crashing down around me. Fidel Castro took over Cuba and made devastating changes to the country - and to the lives of those who lived there. The fairy tale quickly came to an end. Many difficult decisions had to be made by my parents and by many others. The world that we knew no longer existed. We had to leave loved ones and property behind. We had to move forward to a new life in a different country, with different customs, and a different language - and there was no turning back.

Instant New York Times bestseller! In 1960s Florida, a young Cuban exile will risk her life—and heart—to take back her country in this exhilarating historical novel from the author of The Last Train to Key West and Next Year in Havana, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick. Beautiful. Daring. Deadly. The Cuban Revolution took everything from sugar heiress Beatriz Perez—her family, her people, her country. Recruited by the CIA to infiltrate Fidel Castro's inner circle and pulled into the dangerous world of espionage, Beatriz is consumed by her quest for revenge and her desire to reclaim the life she lost. As the Cold War swells like a hurricane over the shores of the Florida Strait, Beatriz is caught between the clash of Cuban American politics and the perils of a forbidden affair with a powerful man driven by ambitions of his own. When the ever-changing tides of history threaten everything she has fought for, she must make a choice between her past and future—but the wrong move could cost Beatriz everything—not just the island she loves, but also the man who has stolen her heart...

This book analyzes the current situation existing in Cuba and describes in detail the real disaster caused in every aspect of Cuban life by the so-called revolution of Fidel Castro, including how it has affected the different components of Cuban society. The author gives a detailed summary of the main indicators of the Cuban economy and society before 1959, when Fidel Castro took power, indicating how they compared favorably at that time with other countries of the world, including many which are considered part of the developed world in our days. The book demystifies numerous aspects of Castro´s propaganda that his followers have considered as great achievements of his government and puts them in perspective in regard to what Cuba could have had nowadays if it had been ruled by democratically elected governments. The book profusely documents the system of corruption and privilege established in the island and analyzes the obscure role of Castro in a number of important events related to the United States including references to his links with drug trafficking, money laundering, and the promotion of terrorist activities, among other criminal activities. One of the aspects the book describes in more detail is the lack of political freedom and the repression of independent thinking and free expression existing in the island, which is part of the overall control on everybody´s lives established by Castro, which is implemented by a gigantic machinery of terror and surveillance. The book describes the role of Cuban military and intelligence in numerous important events of world politics during the past five decades, including their role in Africa, Latin America, and other regions of the world, and it includes some questioning about the possible role of Castro in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy It considers Castro´s interpretation of foreign policy and the way he has disregarded all norms of international behavior. The book also discusses the case of the enormous debt accumulated by Castro´s government and how many of these resources have been deviated to well-camouflaged foreign accounts and investments by Castro and some of the top people around him. One of the interesting things about this book is the analysis it makes about the situation of youth, women, and blacks within the present Cuban society and the detailed description about how the people in general live and how this has evolved under Castro´s tyranny. It also includes an analysis of the exiled Cuban community. Andres Solares discusses the real facts behind Castro´s long tenure of power and shows the contradictions between what he and his supporters say and the crude reality of what happens in Cuba. His book also enters in details about the degrees of decomposition existing at all levels of the political establishment of this obsolete communist regime. The book describes the enormous damage caused by Castro´s policies to the environment of the island and the state of destruction of all the main networks of services, as well as the stagnant conditions of the economy. It includes the author´s views on the different possible scenarios for Cuban political future, once Castro and his brother, one way or another, are no longer able to control Cuba. This book is a strong denouncement of the longest dictatorship that has existed in America, and it serves as an eye-opener for all those who ignore the crude reality of what happens in that beautiful country. It is also a moral message of hope for a better future for the Cuban people. Mr. Solares has used his professional and personal experience, together with his direct knowledge of the Cuban society and economy, to give us a very interesting account of the situation in his country, which will serve those who read it to comprehend better what we can expect there.

"Together, these three tell a saga played out during a unique age filled with upheaval, sharp divisions, and yet, hope. Spanning nearly five decades of life in Cuba and in exile, this wide-ranging history is also an intimately personal narrative, one that helps explain Cubans' complex and diverse views about the path their country has taken."--BOOK JACKET.