Customer Reviews

Secret Fidel Castro, The

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The available information obtained about any person's life sometimes poses almost insurmountable problems. While the most readily verifiable information may not be the most revealing, the most interesting may not be easily verifiable. Thus, we have many accurate accounts of what Fidel Castro said, which, most of the time, fully contradicts what he actually did. In addition, not many of his biographers have tried to find out why he said or did some of these things, because to do so might require going beyond narrative history to examine a different, more elusive type of fact.

The Secret Fidel Castro: Deconstructing the Symbol is neither a history of the Cuban revolution nor a biography of Fidel Castro. The book follows what intelligence services call a CPP (short for Comprehensive Personality Profile), similar to the ones intelligence services keep on foreign leaders. It focuses on different aspects of Castro's actions and personality which, for some reasons, have been either ignored, misunderstood, or misrepresented.

The book originates from the author's personal experiences in Cuba. From 1959 to 1963 he was a political officer in the Cuban Army. As such he participated in the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban missile crisis, the anti-guerrilla actions in the Escambray mountains, and other important military operations. Also, on two occasions, in 1960 and 1964, the author had the opportunity of engaging in long conversations with Castro.

Do we understand the strange phenomenon called Fidel Castro? As you will see in this book, there are many unusual things about Castro, among them, his eidetic (photographic) memory, his uncanny ability to foretell events, his incredible good luck, and his ability to mesmerize people. Obviously, Fidel Castro is different-and not only because he is rich.

Despite the brilliance of innumerable studies about the Cuban leader, these works alone do not ultimately enable us to fully understand Castro himself or the changes he started in Cuba in 1959. After studying the mechanism by which Castro attained power, the uses to which he has put his power, his speeches, his writings and, above all, his actions, most people are still baffled by a flood of unanswered questions.

Why did a small Caribbean country abruptly become an important player in world politics? How could Castro achieved such unparalleled power in Cuba? How did he gain such a strong influence in other parts of the world? Why did Cubans come to venerate Castro as a god? Why, after a long chain of failures, does he still exert a mystique that is conspicuously absent when we study Stalin, Mussolini or Perón? Why does one feel that the Castroist revolution stands for a radically different type of revolution from the Mexican, the French, or the American ones? Most intriguing of all, what drives Fidel Castro, what motivates him? What went on in his mind when he sent his troops to Africa in 1975? What were his true intentions when he promoted guerrilla subversion in Latin America and terrorism in the U.S. and Europe? What was his ultimate goal when he tried in 1962 to push the United States and the Soviet Union to a nuclear confrontation? Was he involved in the Kennedy assassination? Is he the secret instigator of the September 11th attacks?

The main thesis of this book is that there are many different Castros. The most widely known is the symbolic, public one, as it has been portrayed in official Cuban propaganda, Castro-friendly biographies, and mainstream American media. But there are also many secret Castros, highly different from the public one. By "deconstructing" different aspects of the life of the symbolic Fidel Castro the author tries to prove that all of them, the symbolic and the secret ones, are suspect and, therefore, all answers are partial.

The Secret Fidel Castro, focuses on little known aspects of Castro's personality, important in the better understanding of the man and his actions--what really makes him tick.

This is not another book about Castro; this is THE book about Fidel Castro.

(I am not rating the book, rate it yourself once you read it)

The Secret Fidel Castro: Deconstructing the Symbol is a Comprehensive Personality Profile (CPP) of Fidel Castro, similar to ones intelligence services keep on foreign leaders. It focuses on different aspects of Castro's actions and personality. The book originates from the author's personal experiences in Cuba as a staff member of the Cuban government (he was once in the staff for Raul Castro, present in several meetings with the Castro brothers, engaging them in conversation). In this book you will see many secret faces of Castro, from his fascist leanings in high school, his manipulating and mesmerizing personality, to mood swings, hatred for America, and violent behavior. This book is a bit hard to follow, yet I recommend it as a companion to a Castro biography (Quirk, Geyer, Latell, Szluc, Coltman, etc).

.
The Secret Fidel Castro: Deconstructing the Symbol is a take-no-prisoners approach to history. I could not stop reading it until the very end, though I confess than now I am more confused than before. The author proves that the answers to most questions about Castro are wrong, and adds some unanswered questions of his own.

Why does Fidel Castro hate us so much? A very disturbing book all Americans should read, particularly in these dangerous times.

Lisa Schmidt, Boston.

.
The Secret Fidel Castro: Deconstructing the Symbol is a take-no-prisoners approach to history. I could not stop reading it until the very end, though I confess than now I am more confused than before. The author proves that the answers to most questions about Castro are wrong, and adds some unanswered questions of his own.

Why does Fidel Castro hate us so much? A very disturbing book all Americans should read, particularly in these dangerous times.

Lisa Schmidt, Boston.

.
If the author of this book is right--and the more I think about what he says, the more I am convinced that he is right--most of what has been written about Fidel Castro is just trash.

Castro a Communist? Castro an enemy of the United States? Castro an ally of the Latin American guerrillas and liberation movements around the world? Castro against the U.S. embargo? Think again!

This is a book all well-intentioned Leftists and Liberals must read....

Forgive me, it has been a while since I have read this book so I may not remember everything accurately.It just seemed to me that Mr. Gonzalez has virtually placed blame or insinuated that Mr. Castro could be to blame for every misfotune that has occured in the United States since he has been in power.Everything from AIDS to September 11th.I am not saying that he did not carefully think things through.I am just saying he went a bit overboard. Some of his arguments seemed reasonable enough, but some were weak to say the least.A prime example of this would be his use of a letter that Fidel had sent President Roosevelt at the tender age of twelve.Could that really be used as evidence to prove his point?Perhaps, but I highly doubt it.I know I certainly would not want to be held accountable for something I might have written when I was twelve.Also, his references to Castros love of cows and milk connected with his possible homosexuality really seem inane.Overall I feel he had a few points worthy of reflection, but he added so much ludicrous commentary that I could not possibly take this book seriously.Did I mention how incredibly cheesy the picture on the cover was?

.
Either the author of this book is a kook, which I doubt, or we have been fooled about Castro, and many other things, for more than forty years.

Stephen Wolkowicz, Las Cruces, New Mexico

.
The book reads like a Tom Clancy thriller. Unfortunately, it is a real life thriller.

Helen Martinez, Monterey, California.

Over the top is an understatement for this book! Author wants us to believe that Castro has been behind every act of terror directed against the USA since the 1950's. If he hates us, (actually it is more correct to say, he might hate our government) it is because of the continuing embargo against his country.
The man is nothing less than a saint! Open your eyes people, there are actually leaders in the world who honor their commitments to their voters and he is one of them.