Customer Reviews

Against All Hope: A Memoir of Life in Castro's Gulag

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I read this book I had to put it down at least seven different times; the barbaric cruelty of the jailers was that upsetting. For little more than a token show of distaste for Marxism, Valladares was imprisoned under the harshest conditions imaginable. The mind numbing sadism goes on chapter after chapter until you can't imagine how a man could put up with it. Valladares, thru sheer faith and belief that he'll survive, finds a way to survive the drawer cells, the white room, the extended solitary confinement in total darkness, the sleep deprivation, the horrible food, the immersion in a lake of human excrement, the brutal beatings and having to witness fellow prisoners maimed and killed.

His health, particularly his lung tissue, was permanently damaged. The description of his injury and its aftermath in the wake of his attempt to escape made me wince repeatedly. Having been on crutches 15 times myself I could feel his pain. God bless Amnesty International for helping to spring this guy.

When I read about the excoriation that Ron Radosh and David Horowitz endure from their former communist comrades I want to suggest that the complinants go live in Cuba and ply their demogoguery there. Then they can do time in Castro's jails and give us their opinion about his glorious revolution.

Read "Guerilla Prince" by Geyer as a compliment to this book; it's the story of Castro's life. Fidel, whatta guy. Valladares adds to the extensive record of what a horrifying sadist we have ruling an island prison 90 miles from our shores. All American communists-progressives-socialists should read this book, for perspective if nothing else.

"Against All Hope" is Armando Valladares' account of the near-quarter century he spent in Fidel Castro's Soviet-style gulags. Valladares was arrested shortly after Fidel's revolution, simply for not placing a Marxist slogan on his office desk, that would have required him to deny his Savior, Jesus Christ. Several days after this refusal, his house was stormed in the middle of the night, and he was hauled off to prison in Havana, with his mother promised that he would be returned shortly thereafter. Valladares didn't see her in freedom until 22 torturous and terror-filled years later.

The greatest thing Armando Valladares has done for the free world is to shatter the myth (CNN and Jimmy Carter, not withstanding) that Fidel Castro's Cuba is a semi-free place, persecuting only a handful of capitalists and subversives. Valladares tells story after story of hundreds (among tens of thousands of others) of prisoners he knew personally, who were tortured, maimed, starved, and executed. Scores of these prisoners Valladares came to know were not upper class or "white" but poor "campesinos" (and many black Cubans), many of whom once fought for Fidel Castro and Che Guevarra's Revolution... only to have that Machine of Death turn and kill them as well.

After nearly 400 pages of death and terror at the hands of Fidel Castro and his minions, I found myself wanting to just close the book and forget the rest. But then, I realized that's what the United Nations (ah, what a noble-sounding title that is) and the Western elitist Left has been doing for years with Castro... ignoring his terrorism. Ultimately, I was glad I finished the book, because even though Valladares does not put some lame happy spin on the story, he is at least freed (22 years of his life stolen), and now he can openly speak the truth of his Savior, to Fidel's power.

As the daughter of a political prisioner who shared the trials and tribulations of the author, I can assure the readers that, as unbelievable as this book may sound to you, it is not a work of fiction, but the truth. The daily "life" that is described in this book, the tortures and the endless mind-boggling cruelty will haunt you. But above all, it is the undying hope and faith that shines through all the pages that will capture your heart. It is a beautiful testimony to the strength of the human spirit. I would definetely recommend this work to anyone.

Beautiful in its stark, dark reprisal of life in a Cuban Gulag. Through all the grotesque trials and tribulation, Armando finds strength in the truth of his principles and in his God. He is a hero of mine, for I'm not sure I could withstand what he did. The beatings, the psych and chemical torture, the (...)pits, the knowledge that the family suffers because of your absence, the hunger strikes, for twenty years. Hundreds of anecdotes, mostly depressing (...), line the pages. This should be mandatory reading for the Danny Glovers of the world, who sickingly worship the ghoul Castro. Armando Valladares makes the world a better place, and we should all profit from learning about his life. It is a book that will stick w/ you, in its message of overcoming the darkest of the dark w/ the thin light of Heaven and freedom.

Are you ever against adversity?? Then, I would read this book!

But I do wish to articulate:

I lived near the Northern Border of Mexico, in the early mid 1980s; when Liberation Theology was in Central America; when insurgent movements were across Latin America; I had a shortwave radio and among other things, I listened to "Radio Havana Cuba", I am anglo, but I learned the Spanish language in college. I watched the excellent movie "El Norte" addressing the problems of Mayan Indians from Guatemala migrating to the U.S. (and probably a good unbiased movie to watch as well). I read and read and I saw even Socialist demonstrations in Mexico along with murals for all of the assorted parties there besides those with the hammer and sickle.

But it made me wonder; what is the truth?

So famous, is that "Scarface" movie of the early eighties; about a Cuban Prisoner of all things; coming over to Florida on the Mariel Boatlift. During that time, I took a class on Cuban history and I may have been a shade positive attitude towards Fidel Castro; but after reading this book; I became very neutral, not knowing what to think, about the "workers paradise" of that Caribbean isle.

Fidel; and in fact, others, Che Guevara and the dictator's brother, Raoul; all are mentioned in this book, additionally in no favorable way;

If half of what Valladares writes in this book were true, that would be rather sad for the ruling regime of Cuba; but then, I have to read it, and wonder, what motives would Valladares have to write untruths? How could he even come up with some of the stories in this book, if not true, such as depriving a prisoner of certain minerals (and he eludes to such countries as East Germany, as this era is during the time of the Iron Curtain) so that they develop chemical imbalances in the body, or prison cells that are so tiny, you only have room really, to just lie there; and many, many tales.

We learn of heroes as well; those who die in prison as the victim of the system, of priests and common peoples.

In my life, I have known adversity; this book, is something to read in those times; in fact, I have loaned this book out, not getting it back and making sure I follow up in obtaining another copy.

And again, I tend to believe Valladares, he was finally freed after over 20 years (I believe) of imprisonment through international action. And true, the original charges he was brought up on, are very petty. You will read, in this book, throughout those years, how Valladares was moved from prison to prison.

The left, the right, have all committed wrongs, maybe man in general; but this is a testament to the indomitable spirit of man too. You turn the pages and read it in rapid succession, it is so interesting.

This should be required reading in any colleges offering Latin American Studies or Caribean Studies.

Armando Valladares was put to the test. Imprisoned on trumped up charges by the brutal and paranoid Castro regime, he spent twenty-two years in the Cuban gulag, suffering unspeakable physical and psychological torture. Despite the inhuman deprivations inflicted upon him and his fellow political prisoners, he refused to buckle under to his sadistic captors. Through his unshakeable faith in God and an iron will, he resisted to the last; in the end, he gained freedom for himself and his family, dealt a heavy political blow to the Castro regime, and helped save other prisoners from a worse fate by bringing world attention to the horrible inhumanity of the Cuban prison system.

One could say it is like "The Diary of Anne Frank" with a happy ending, except that thousands of political prisoners, guilty of nothing more than the desire for freedom, continue to languish in Cuban prisons. It is questionable whether they are better off than the thousands more who have been executed, starved to death, beaten to death, or slowly exterminated by the ravages of illness. Valladares gives us far more than an impassioned narrative with characters of unbelievable courage and others of unbelievable cruelty. He gives us an irresistible call to action: wherever and however freedom is attacked, we must resist. No matter how hopeless it seems, the strength of a single person can be more powerful than the tanks and guns of an entire army.

This is a great book. It should be given to every sap and sucker who somehow finds merit in Castro's Revolution. Valladares chronicles the absolute repression at the core of Castro's regime. The torture and executions at La Cabana and Isle of Pines prisons are among the most brutal and extensive cases of barbarism any government has ever devised. The next time some Oliver Stone or Michael Moore type tells you about Castro's achievements such as a "high literacy rate," give them this book. And remind them that this is one book you'll never see in Cuba, or in an American college classroom that romanticizes Castro's oppression. This is the real "Animal Farm," folks: a powerfully written nightmare of tyrannical cruelty and the deep spiritual resilience needed to pull through.

I tend to prefer a good nonfiction survival story, and this was one of the best I have ever read. Most people in survival situations are there without choice, Armando Validares along with a segment of Cuban society were imprisoned because they valued their freedom of thought in a Cuban society intolerant of dissent. These political prisoners have only to accept the garb of a common prisoner or attend political re-education classes to receive better treatment. The author and fellow prisoners endured inhumane tortures because of their belief and values. The prisoners have maintained their courage, defiance, and solidarity for years while undergoing all that Castro's regime can bear upon them to make them yield. It is truly heroic. During many of the beatings the prisoners would still manage to yell an anti-communist slogan or quote a Bible verse to the enraged guards. This book demonstrates the willpower a human being has to value an idea or goal above life itself. The ordeal, while completed by the author is continuing for many of his comrades and fellow citizens. Other interesting aspects of this book show a wider view of the struggle such as, the inner workings of the Castro regime, and highlights the deception of his political statements denying the existence of political prisoners. It also shows the force of world opinion and organizations such as the UN and Amnesty International upon Totalitarian governments. All in all, the main effect of this book was a deep admiration for these prisoners holding to a principle while enduring all that a modern totalitarian government can bring to bear upon them. These men routinely have the basics of life withheld, clothing, warmth, food, water, and sleep, but still they endure and refuse to buckle under. They remain true to their conscience. Common criminals and civilians employed in the prisons routinely are touched enough to help these political prisoners because their condition is so pathetic. The Castro Regime's answer to this is to have these prisoners isolated and tended to by militant party members only. Still threads of news managed to reach the outside world to inform it of the existence of these political prisoners and their actions. The fact that this has gone on and is continuing close to American shores really hits home. This book is now my standard for judging all other survival books. I give it the highest rating. Very well done. It is a story that had to be told. World notoriety made it very unlikely that the author could quietly die in a Cuban prison and world appeals to release him finally made Castro relent. This is his story of twenty-two years in the Cuban penal system.

Castro has now ruled across the terms of 10 US Presidents. The secret of his longevity is not his popularity with the Cuban people, but rather his ruthless suppression of any dissent or competition. Valladares provides a keyhole view into this world of true terror and depravity.

Behind the warm white beaches where libbies from around the world find paradise there exist prisons where the brutality is only equaled by that of Stalin, Saddam, Mao and a few others. Any yet, like the American press' refusal to admit the terrible atrocities of the Soviet Union, these are happening in our back yard.

Those who claim to be against abuse of prisoners or the imprisonment of those whose only crimes are peaceful protest or political unreliability should take an evening to read this book.

It is not a comforting book and evening reading may lead to sleepless nights for the routine horrors of Castro's prisons are the stuff of nightmares. Without assurances of its validity, this book reads like fiction in that it is difficult to conceive that so much could be inflicted on another human who poses no threat.

Highly recommended

This is book should be required text. It is an in depth account of the torture suffered by many under the oppressive dictatorship of the Castro regime. Those who would try to sympathize with the communist-dictatorship should read this real life account of a man with the courage to stand up for human rights and freedoms in a country where neither of these is respected. In vivid detail, you live through Mr. Valladares' horrific experience and get to celebrate in the strength of the human spirit.