Ann Louise Bardach - Cuba Confidential: The Extraordinary Tragedy of Cuba, its Revolution and its Exiles

PENGUIN BOOKS

CUBA CONFIDENTIAL

2003 PEN USA Book Award Finalist for Best Non-fiction

New York Public Library Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism for 2003

Chosen as one of the 10 Best Books of 2002 by the Los Angeles Times

Compelling Bardach does things the old-fashioned way; she reports the hell out of her subjects She never hesitated to ask the most uncomfortable questions her book stands out as the one that gets us closest to the heart of the matter LA Weekly

An illuminating portrait, by a first-class investigative journalist, drawing on ten years of reporting of the half-century-long civil war that has divided Cuba against itself Powerful, evenhanded, thoroughly edifying Kirkus Reviews

For the past decade, Bardach has been the most vigorous reporter on the Cuban scene Leaders on both sides of the Florida Straits have learned to fear her efforts Salon Magazine

The twisted history of US-Cuba policy comes alive, with all its amazing characters and events There is simply no reporter who has worked this story with the talent, diligence and enterprise of author Ann Louise Bardach. She is fearless and funny and so is her book Joe Conason, New York Observer

A wonderful book absolutely masterful at presenting both sides of the Cuba debate Gay Talese

Americas most lucid, courageous, and well-informed observer of Cuban realities on both sides of the Florida Straits a tour de force, the definitive work on the still ongoing Cuban civil war that, whether it is being played out in Havana, Miami, or Washington, continues to ruin the future of Cubans and the politics of the United States David Rieff, author of The Exile

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ann Louise Bardach is a PEN award-winning investigative journalist who has covered Cuba for more than a decade for The New York Times, Vanity Fair, where she was Contributing Editor for many years, and many other national publications. She currently writes for Newsweek International and has appeared on 60 Minutes, Today, Dateline, CNN, The OReilly Factor, Hardball, Charlie Rose, and NPR, among others. She is also the editor of Cuba: A Travelers Literary Companion and is a Visiting Professor of International Journalism at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

The Extraordinary Tragedy of Cuba, its Revolution and its Exiles

ANN LOUISE BARDACH

PENGUIN BOOKS

PENGUIN BOOKS

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First published in the United States by Random House 2002
First published in Great Britain in Penguin Books 2004
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Copyright Ann Louise Bardach, 2002

All rights reserved
The moral right of the author has been asserted

Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

ISBN: 978-0-14-193554-6

In grateful memory of Jos Rodrguez Feo, who inspired this adventure, and Jos Luis Llovio-Menndez, who was my guide

T HIS BOOK HAS HAD MANY MUSES AND MENTORS . Its origin was in my first meeting with Jos Rodrguez Feo, the great essayist, critic, former aristocrat and onetime libertine, at his crumbling Vedado apartment in Havana. During our brief friendshipcut short by his death in 1994Rodrguez Feo transmitted to me his passion for Cuban culture, politics and intrigue. The following year, I met Jos Luis Llovio-Menndez, a Cuban official who defected in 1981. It was Llovio who steered and guided me along the slippery shoals of the Cuba-Miami showdown, brainstorming interviews and trips to Cuba, and who escorted me on several trips to Union City, New Jersey. The influence of these two men on my work is incalculable, their loss immeasurable.

The void has been filled, to a large degree, by many Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits who have extended their support and friendship to me. They include Salvador Lew, Lilia Medina, Rosario Moreno, Uva de Aragn, Sonia Bez, Jorge Tabio, Achy Obejas, Rosa Lowinger, Richard Alexander, John Padilla, MariTeri Vichot, Anibal Quevedo, Al Arias and Natlia Bolvar. Special thanks go to Jorge Munero and his wife, Mara, who shared the story of their family with me.

I have been blessed over the years by many superb and good-humored assistants who have toiled in the trenches with mefact-checking, researching, transcribing, translating. They are Luis Prat, Joanne Wright, Gina Becchetti, Lupe Corona, Robert Figueroa, Libby Bez, Lochy Le Riverend and Ana Fresquette. Invaluable insights and suggestions have come from many people, including David Rieff; George Volsky; Lou Cannon, who urged me to write this book; Constance Penley; Frank and Nita Manitzas; and Reinaldo Herrera. My friends Holly Palance, Anton Vonk and Diane Boss saw to it that I had some restorative breaks from writing, and my computer whiz, Sergio Espinosa, saved many a day for me. The indefatigable Jan Miller guided me through an earlier foray into publishing. Special thanks go to a small army of lawyers who scrubbed down this manuscript, most notably the terrific media attorney Tom Julin, who vetted the manuscript with his trademark conscientiousness; Richard Ovelmen, who has been a continuous source of wisdom; and Random Houses wise Amelia Zalcman. I also want to extend thanks to Steve Messina, who faced a formidable task as the books production editor.

Thanks go to my editors at Vanity Fair, the New York Times and the late Talk magazine for supporting and underwriting much of this research, along with the American Journalism Foundation. Photographer Cindy Karp and CORBIS went the extra mile to assemble the photographs for this book.

My greatest and ongoing debts are to my literary agent, the remarkably gifted and diligent Tina Bennett, and to the sagacious Ann Godoff, who steered this project to Random House. One would be hard-pressed to find a more dedicated and intelligent editor than Joy de Menil, who brought her own scholarship and superb judgment to bear on the manuscript. Her assistant, Robin Rolewicz, facilitated and simplified the most daunting logistics.

This work would have been impossible had it not been for the dozens of scholars, writers, analysts and historians who trailblazed the path. The most influential and useful in my research have been Hugh Thomas, the late great Tad Szulc, Luis Conte Agero for his Cartas del Presidio, and Carlos Franqui.

I have also benefited immeasurably over the years from the assistance, advice and friendship of several reporters in Miami, most notably Andrs Oppenheimer, Meg Laughlin, Jane Bussey, Karl Ross, Kerry Gruson and Lucia Newman. And I thank my parents, Ruth and Emil Bardach, who set the gold standard for taking the road less traveled.