Customer Reviews

Castro'S Final Hour

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I read this book when it first appeared and was impressed by the wealth of first-hand information Mr. Oppenheimer had been able to amass. I remember quite vividly thinking at the time that Castro had managed to hang on to his personal fiefdom for over thrity years (at that point), and that given his ruthless nature, his absolute control over every aspect of Cuban society, and the long experience of the islanders in acquiesing to domination and deprivation, it was risky to predict his demise (at least on economic grounds).

The system Castro constructed is a marvel of state control. There is really nothing else in the world quite like it, although the North Korean regime gets similar results using more consistently brutal and heavy-handed methods. In retrospect, it seems odd that while Mr. Oppenheimer was able to explain a great deal about how the system works, he came to the conclusion that it would soon fail anyway.

So to sum up the book: Good research, lots of data and anecdotes, very well written, faulty conclusion. It seems that the world, and the luckless Cuban people, are stuck with the old caudillo until he dies.

How can anyone belittle this well thoughtout and researched book? One can continue placing "all" the blame on the Embargo but there were two major blunders that had a more devastating impact on Cuba: The immediate removal (1956) of the professional class ( businessmen and merchants) by confiscating their assets and properties and transferring them into the hands of inexperienced, incapable and largely inept bureaucrats. 2. The economically naive and foolish reliance on a Soviet "subsidized" trade agreement ( 5 years plans that went on for years)and the total failure to forsee and prepare for it's inevitable collapse. When the Soviets, because of their own economic problems, began to demand payment in hard currencies (dollar) instead of the long practised "barter system" the game was over.

Its sad that this island lives day by day without any future agenda in mind. There is no such thing in Cuba as communism, they broke the mold a long time ago.It should be called "Castrism".You ask any cuban citizen where will they be 5 years from know and they look puzzle.The citizens on this island have given up on life and hope, its like a bad dream that they hope will end one day.What happened in 59 shall never happen again.

I read this book with great reluctance and skepticism. It was recommended to me a cousin who had recently emigrated to Mexico from Cuba, where I read it in Spanish on the eve of my own trip to the island to visit family (this trip took place Nov 97). While many of the hardships of the Special Period in Time of Peace -- Castrospeak for the crisis that followed the collapse of the Soviet block -- have eased, this book is an honest, unflinching portrait. It accurately describes Cuba as a nation struggling to keep what is best in the revolution while moving past what is worst, primarily through the words of its own people and key events not widely reported in the US. It makes it clear that the US embargo not only worsens the lives of ordinary Cubans, but provides Fidel with a catch-all excuse for not dealing with internal economic problem. After reading this book it is easy to see the US embargo as the most bass-ackwards US foreign policy move of the last 20 years -- virtually guaranteeing that Fidel remain in power with his ultimately empty anti-imperialist rhetoric. The details of how Fidel is turning the nation into Europe's and Canada's bargain brothel are heartbreaking.

This book is a must for supporters of the Cuban revolution because it forces us to confront the realities Cubans face in their daily lives, without the rose-colored glasses of socialist idealism.

"Castro's Final Hour" is a well-researched, detailed look at the self-created problems of communist Cuba and the Machivelean inner workings of its government.

This is history at its best. "Castro's Final Hour" is quite possibly the best book on the rise and fall of Fidel Castro's Cuba - a piece of journalistic reportage that will not be outdone any time soon.

This is not a Fidel Castro biography; it is however, a synopsis of the events that lead to Cuba's virtual ruin. "Castro's Final Hour" opens with the 1989 executions of four high-ranking Cuban military officers of which two stood out among the rest: Col. Antonio de La Guardia and Division General Arnaldo Ochoa Sanchez. According to Oppenheimer, these executions may have well marked the disillusionment of the Cuban people with their revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro. The executions may have also precipitated Cuba's disintegration in the eyes of the world community. Oppenheimer writes of the decline of Cuba's relations with its ideological allies in Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Angola, Germany . . . and its most important and economic lifeline, the Soviet Union.

Oppenheimer tackles the difficult and delicate issue of equanimity between Cuba's systems of free education and healthcare and the government's food rationing program, which drastically reduced the foodstuffs that Cubans received monthly, and which worsened as the Soviet Union pulled its resources from the island. The struggle the Cuban people faced after Mikhail Gorbachev's Soviet Union converted to a free market economy along with most of Europe and Latin America became a devastating fact of life.

Oppenheimer describes life in Cuba. Cuba, once considered the jewel of the Caribbean was transformed into an island of despair where Cubans lived uneventful lives and struggled daily just to survive and make ends meet. It was in this environment, the author writes, where the "black market" flourished and became a vital organ for Cuban survival. The black market became the way business was conducted and stealing from the state became prevalent. Life on the island was so monotonous, especially for young Cubans, that promiscuous sexual behavior became a kind of national pastime. Oppenheimer writes that the seemingly hopelessness of the situation and a dismal outlook for the future drove many people to make the ninety mile trek through the treacherous waters to Miami, Florida to seek a better life in the US. The situation was also the driving force behind young Cubans (roqueros), like Carlos Vela, to write songs that discreetly protested their disillusionment with their revolutionary regime.

Oppenheimer explains how diminishing imports of petroleum, raw materials, clothing, foodstuffs, and medical supplies from the Soviet Union and other countries resulted in shortages in everything. As a consequence, Cuba desperately attempted to revitalize its island's tourism - a reversal from Marxism-Leninism to a form of quasi-capitalism for survival, but which created controversy from within Cuba's people. Oppenheimer covers a myriad of events that allow readers to gain a firm understanding of Cuba's economic crisis.

Fidel Castro underwent major intestinal surgery in August of 2006 leaving Cuba in a state of uncertainty over the country's future even with his brother, Raul Castro, at the helm. This event makes Andres Oppenheimer's, "Castro's Final Hour" an important book because it gives readers a birds eye view of where Cuba was and where it stands in today's global picture. It is a fast and informative read - hard to put down once you begin. It is well balanced and honest and a definite must read.

The fact Andres Oppenheimer was able to gain candid interviews with top Cuban officials is amazing. I first read this book in 1992 when everyone thought the Castro regime would collapse by the end of the year, this was the reason I suspect so many top officials granted interviews, believing the regime was doomed. What has always amazed me about this book is Castro commited a cardinal sin in Latin America by executing an Army General. No dictator that has ever ruled in Latin America would dream of doing such a thing fearing a Military Coup. The fact Generals Ochoa & De Laguardia were executed and there was no uprising in the armed forces shows what is the real power that keeps the regime in power. The DGI and other state spy organizations backed by a nationwide network of informants. It will be interesting to finally learn what the whole Ochoa affair was really about. A bit dated today but still a good book on modern Cuba with nice pictures.

This an excellent piece of work, which describes the not so well publicized truth behind Castro's Cuba. Drug trafficking, money laundering, state inneficiency, fear, discontent, deceit, and frustration from the people within the island. Its a must read for anyone who intends to understand the reality of Castro's system, how it works, and how its brutal, repressive, but sophisticated apparatus maintains itself gasping for air, but gasping nonetheless.

I live in Cuba and therefore read everything I can about it.

The book was written during the "periodo especial". The author could not know that Cuba would get out of the tunnel, as the country was experiencing its worst turmoil ever. He describes the era very well, as he spent long stretches of time on the island and his contacts were excellent allowing him access to both top end politicians and your average Pepe on the street.

Where the writer fails is in his predictions for the future: he claims Cuba's plan to export medicine will fail (it didn't), he guessed socialism would collapse within a few years (it didn't) etc. Nevertheless his input is excellent and he manages to record amazingly well an era of uncertainty, desperation and sense of upcoming change. His description of Cuban absurdities is very accurate and not at all exaggerated.

If there's anything you want to learn about "el periodo especial", that's the book you should buy. Awesome independent, in-depth work by Oppenheimer.

It is a book with a very ironic tittle since the hour became decades, but the contents are still very valuable and accurate.