Customer Reviews

La Hora Final De Castro: La Historia Secreta Detras De La Inminente Caida Del Comunismo En Cuba (Spanish Edition)

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More telling than any other cold-war era work compiled over the last 15 years, Andres Openheimer dives into the case that almost brought Fidel Castro and his regime to its knees in late 1980's Havana. With accurate and never before revealed information, the writer investigates an array of characters from simple citizens to famed and personal friends of the dictator. A must read if you are looking to brush up on recent Cuban history and politics.

This is a detailed account of a crucial era in the life of Communism in Cuba. Oppenheimer is fastidious with information. Everything is taken into consideration. The only problem is that the whole premise of the book did not cooperate: Castro did not have his final hour.

A book written in 1993 forecasts the immediate downfall of the Castro regime. Twelve years later, Castro remains. The book? Barely there... just a compilation of old Cuban exiles and Dept of State cliches. It's amazing this guy still finds newspapers willing to buy his stuff and people willing to believe him. I guess the reader's short attention span issues are more acute than we thought.

For someone who portrays himself as the expert on the reality of Latin America, Openheimer once again displays his ignorance of the facts.

My advice to Openheimer is to write about something which he knows better. The corruption tied to neo-liberalism and it's failure to rescue Latin America from economic despair.

With this book he pays lip service and tribute to a very narrow segment of the cuban american population in the city where he resides, comfortably writing from an ivory tower.