And the Russians Stayed: The Sovietization of Cuba : A Personal Portrait [Hardcover]

Nestor T. Carbonell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The author went into exile soon after the Castro takeover and joined the Miami-based Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front, an organization that played a vital role in CIA operations against the Castro regime. Carbonell addresses one of the most puzzling questions of recent history: why Washington launched the 1961 Bay of Pigs operation, then withdrew support. His answer emerges in his account of a 1962 meeting between John F. Kennedy and the leaders of the Cuban Brigade in which the President revealed that the Soviets had threatened to attack West Berlin if the U.S. continued to back the invasion. In a controversial hindsighted view of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, Carbonell argues persuasively that "Washington flinched and the Russians stayed" and that the latter subsequently transformed the island into a virtually impregnable base for Communist agitation and subversion in Latin America and Africa. The author, now a Connecticut lawyer, also discusses what he considers the Stalinization of Cuba, the impact of Cuban emigres in America and the future of U.S.
Cuban relations. Photos.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The author, a descendant of an important Cuban political family, and a young lawyer at the time of the 1959 revolution, provides an upper-class, liberal, and insightful view of Castro. He joined the anti-Castro movement in Miami, participating in the Bay of Pigs invasion. His memoir, combined with interviews from other participants, reveals some very telling and original conclusions about the U.S. support of the invasion and anti-Castro groups from 1960-62. The title is misleading, for although the author implies that Russian missles are still in Cuba, the remainder of his account of Soviet influence in Cuba after 1962 is anecdotal, brief, and undeveloped. Recommended for academic collections only. See also Jorge Dominguez's To Make a World Safe for Revolution: Cuba's Foreign Policy , below.
- Roderic A. Camp, Central Coll., Pella, Ia.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co; 1st edition (April 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688072135
• ISBN-13: 978-0688072131
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #389,556 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Non-indigenous nature of the communist takeover of Cuba, March 13, 2007

By 

Laurence Daley (Corvallis, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: And the Russians Stayed: The Sovietization of Cuba : A Personal Portrait (Hardcover)

Carbonell, Nestor T. 1989 And the Russians Stayed: The Sovietization of Cuba: A Personal Portrait. William Morrow & Co; New York ISBN-10 0688072135 ISBN-13: 978-0688072131

The strength of this history is its attention to detail and its rejection of academic theories which erroneously postulate an indigenous nature of the communist takeover of Cuba. One notes that such academic theories are generally proposed by non-Cuban scholars who with some reprehensible frequency accept the official Cuban government history of this matter in exchange for edited access to archives in Cuba. The balancing and correcting factor and the strength of this work is the author's personal experience in Cuba, and his deep knowledge of the Cuban condition. For instance, this is one of the few books that document the role of Fabio Grobart, the Stalinist éminence gris, and his machinations that guided Fidel Castro in his take over of Cuba. This diminishes Castro from a genius of evil to the role of a "chosen one;" however, to do otherwise as so many other authors do is to give this now dying leader improbable superhuman qualities and uncanny prescience. One quibble is the characterization of the Güajiro, the proud independent Cuban country folk, as peasants, when in reality their willingness to do battle and their skill in war makes them far more akin to English Yeoman than to downtrodden country laborers; and thus making this culture far more important than is generally viewed in the military history of Cuba.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars [e-mail], May 18, 2003

By 

Carlos Garcia "Carlos Garcia" (Kennesaw, GA U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: And the Russians Stayed: The Sovietization of Cuba : A Personal Portrait (Hardcover)

I enjoyed this book as much as a Tom Clancy novel or a JFK conspiracy story. I couldn't put it down. It revealed interesting details regarding Castro's regime and events surrounding the revolution, the Bay of Pigs Invasion, and the Cuban missle crisis. The author discusses facts about Cuba that you never hear about (outside of Miami's Cuban community). I think it could make a great movie.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars highly informative, May 8, 2007

By 

Ross in Texas - See all my reviews

This review is from: And the Russians Stayed: The Sovietization of Cuba : A Personal Portrait (Hardcover)

I recently finished this higly informative book. I did not realize how deeply involved the Soviets were in the takeover and subsequent militarization of Cuba. The work is written with the passion of a man personally involved who deeply loves his country. It would be good to see a follow-up analysis in the years since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Why does the regime seem to be able to hang on? What effect did the visit of Pope John Paul II have on the island? I recommend this book to be read along with "Against All Hope" by Armando Valladares.