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Andres Oppenheimer

Castro'S Final Hour Paperback – Illustrated, October 29, 1993

by Andres Oppenheimer (Author)

3.5 15 ratings

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Reported from inside Cuba by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Andres Oppenheimer, Castro's Final Hour chronicles the dramatic events that have crippled the more-than-three-decades-old Marxist regime of Fidel Castro.

Castro's Final Hour is a compelling and intimate portrait of the Cuban leader, and an authoritative evaluation of what the future may hold for his country.

Print length

480 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Touchstone
Publication date

October 29, 1993
Dimensions

6 x 1.1 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0671872990
ISBN-13

978-0671872991
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Miami Herald foreign correspondent Oppenheimer presents a revelatory close-up of Cuba following the Soviet Union's withdrawal of subsidies. Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

Reported from inside Cuba by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Andres Oppenheimer, Castro's Final Hour chronicles the dramatic events that have crippled the more-than-three-decades-old Marxist regime of Fidel Castro. From the execution of the country's most celebrated Army general in 1989 to the devastating effects of the loss of all Soviet aid, the picture Oppenheimer paints is extraordinarily detailed and engrossing, revealing a country on the brink of disaster. He uncovers Castro's never-before reported efforts to radicalize Noriega's regime in Panama, the failure of his "Zero Option" plan to restore economic stability without outside aid, and tells how, in a last ditch attempt to save the country from its dire slide, Castro's top aides pushed a plan to strip him of some of his powers. Including exclusive interviews with Soviet officials, Latin American leaders - including Daniel Ortega and Manuel Noriega - as well as the top echelon of current Cuban leadership and Fidel's dissident daughter, Alina, Castro's Final Hour is a compelling and intimate portrait of the Cuban leader, and an authoritative evaluation of what the future may hold for his country.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Touchstone; Updated ed. edition (October 29, 1993)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0671872990
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0671872991
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.58 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.1 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,060,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,214 in History of Cuba (Books)
- #1,552 in Central America History
- #3,425 in Caribbean & Latin American Politics

Customer Reviews:
3.5 15 ratings

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Michael J. Snyder

GREAT - Now do an update, Andres!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 5, 2009

Verified Purchase

I read this book before visiting Cuba some years ago and it made the trip SO much more interesting. I found myself looking for the ONLY sign of protest: the 8A graffiti around Habana. Now that Raul is in power it would be wonderful to reevaluate the island's politics and culture, just as updating Bordering on Chaos would explain a lot about what is happening in Mexico with a new PANista leader's intense and violent confrontation with the drug cartels.

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CQ

Information in this book not found anywhere else.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 24, 2016

Very informative.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 7, 2010

Verified Purchase

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

One person found this helpful

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Christopher Butsavage

Was it really?

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 2, 2021

The longest hour in the history of the universe.

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evolv

The scribblings of a confused and misled old man

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 26, 2019

I didn’t buy this on Amazon, but when I saw the reviews, I HAD to drop some knowledge. This is nonsense written by someone who has clearly never been to Cuba or met anyone besides The Batistas in Miami who hate the fact that the revolution had been the best thing to happen to the majority of the Cuban People. You should always consider the source. Look into the author, I won’t tell you everything.... but it’s VERY telling. Especially in these times of rising global fascism. Fidel saw this coming years before his passing. Now it’s growing fast... better wake up fast, america.

One person found this helpful

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Edward P. Matos

The Ending of a Regime

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 30, 2006

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.

2 people found this helpful

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Jim Stegall

History's Longest Hour

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 6, 2004

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.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jens Olsen

Oppenheimer's final hour.............

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 15, 2007

The author of this book Andres Oppenheimer is a journalist for the Miami based "El Nuevo Herald" newspaper. (same company owns The Miami Herald).

In 2006 a major scandal broke out at Oppenheimer's newspaper when it was revealed that aproximately 35 reporters including free lance journalists and full time journalists on "El Nuevo Herald's" staff were found to be on the payroll of the US Government to publish Anti Cuban propaganda via "news" outlets such as the Miami based Radio Marti. (a US Government propaganda radio station beaming American propaganda into Cuba).

Andres Oppenheimer was not directly involved but questions arise about his motives to write such a blatant Anti Cuban book; if 35 of Oppenheimer's colleagues at his newspaper were found to be taking money from the US Government to publish propaganda do we as readers have a right to wonder wether Andres Oppenheimer also enjoys some back channel funding from the US Government to publish Anti Cuban books and articles ?

5 people found this helpful

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