Fidel Castro : a biography PDF
Preview Fidel Castro : a biography
Fidel Castro (cid:1) USA Miami FLORIDA Gulf of Mexi co Key West C Tropic of Cancer U Mariel Havana Sierra del Rosario Santa Clara Pinar del Rio Cienfuegos EscamMbtrsay Sancti- Spiritus Bahia de Cochinos Isla de Pinos (Bay of Pigs) (Isle of Pines) Yucatan Bas i n Grand Cayman 0 100 200 km Great Abaco Island Nassau Andros T Cat Island Island H E B A H B A M Acklins A Island S A Camaguey Banes Holguin Mayari Cauto Birán (birthplace of Fidel Castro) Bayamo Sierra Turquino Sierra Maestra de Caimanera Cristal 2005m The “Granma” Santiago landings de Cuba United States base Guantánamo HAITI JAMAICA Kingston For Annette Fidel Castro (cid:1) A Biography Volker Skierka Translated by Patrick Camiller polity Copyright © this translation Polity Press 2004. Originally published under the title FIDEL CASTRO Eine Biografie © 2001 by Kindler Verlag GmbH Berlin (Germany) © 2001, 2004 by Volker Skierka, Hamburg (Germany) First published in 2004 by Polity Press. Polity Press 65 Bridge Street Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK Polity Press 350 Main Street Malden, MA 02148, USA All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Skierka, Volker, 1952– [Fidel Castro. English] Fidel Castro : a biography / Volker Skierka; translated by Patrick Camiller. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7456-3006-5 (hb : alk. paper) 1. Castro, Fidel, 1926– 2. Cuba – History – 1933–1959. 3. Cuba – History – 1959– 4. Heads of state – Cuba – Biography. I. Title. F1788.22.C3S5413 2004 972.9106′4′092–dc21 2003013215 Typeset in 11 on 13 pt Plantin by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books, Bodmin, Cornwall For further information on Polity, visit our website: www.polity.co.uk Contents (cid:1) A Note of Thanks ix Acknowledgments xi Preface to the English Edition xii 1 The Heroic Myth 1 2 The Young Fidel 5 Among Jesuits 5 Among gangsters 20 3 The Young Revolutionary 31 Storm and stress: Moncada 31 “Che,” the Argentinean 40 Stormy crossing on the Granma 43 A guerrillero in the Sierra Maestra 48 321 against 10,000 57 4 The Young Victor 68 Communists and “barbudos” 68 1,500 revolutionary laws 78 5 Old Enemies, New Friends 91 The great powers at the gates 91 The CIA, the Mafia, and the Bay of Pigs 100 vii Contents Fidelismo 114 “Mongoose” and “Anadyr” 124 Thirteen days on the brink of a third world war 131 Three gamblers 144 6 The Long March with Che 154 Moscow, Beijing, and Havana 154 The new man 160 The demise of Che 167 7 Bad Times, Good Times 180 War and peace with Moscow 180 Ten million tons 192 Into the Third World 200 The revolution devours its children 213 8 Alone against All 226 Exodus to Florida 226 Rectificación and perestroika 236 The Soviet imperium collapses 255 The brother’s power 271 War economy in peacetime 282 9 The Eternal Revolutionary 294 Class struggle on a dollar basis 294 Cuba and the global policeman 310 Castro, God, and the Pope 333 Freedom or “socialismo tropical” 352 10 Don Quixote and History 366 Notes 380 Bibliography 411 Index 426 viii
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