The Prison Letters of Fidel Castro

by Fidel Castro, Ann Louise Bardach (Introduction), Luis Conte Agüero (Epilogue)

Early in Ann Louise Bardach's Cuban voyage she came across Cartas de Presidio or The Prison Letters of Fidel Castro . Edited by Luis Conte Aguero, who was the recipient of most of these letters, they are cited in every important work from Hugh Thomas' opus Cuba to Tad Szulc's Fidel biography, and everything in between and since. These twenty-one letters (nine to Conte Aguero, six to his late sister and close collaborator, Lidia, one to his wife Mirta, one to his comrade in combat, Melba Hernandez letters, one to the great scholar Jorge Manach) are regarded as the single most valuable and revelatory document regarding Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution. Never before published in English, these letters were written when Castro was imprisoned for his failed attack on the Moncada from 1953 to 1955 and reveal a man of spectacular ambition and steely determination. A man, who despite being incarcerated to serve a lengthy prison term, never wavers in his confidence that he will one day rule Cuba.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Biography Memoir, Theory, Biography

208 pages, Paperback

First published February 8, 2007

About the author

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro overthrew the regime of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar in 1959, established a Communist state, served as prime minister until 1976 and then as president of the government and first secretary of the party, in declining health passed control de facto in 2006 to Raúl Castro, his younger brother, and officially retired in 2008.

Fidel Castro led a revolutionary movement that overthrew corrupt authoritarian regime of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar on New Year's Day, 1 January 1959.

Raúl Castro assisted Fidel Castro, his brother, in overthrowing the regime of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar in 1959.

United States in an attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro trained a force of 1,500 guerrilla troops, who landed at Bay of Pigs, the site, in an ill-fated invasion on 17 April 1961.

Castro, the illegitimate son of a wealthy farmer, adopted leftist anti-imperialist politics and meanwhile studied law at the University of Havana. He participated in rebellions against right wing in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, afterward failed in an attack on the barracks of Moncada, planned against the military junta, which the United States of America backed, and served imprisonment for a year in 1953. On release, he went to Mexico, formed the movement of 26 July as a group with Ernesto Guevara, his friend and doctor.

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, a politician, also served as the commander in chief of the armed forces. This politically Marxist-Leninist administered the socialist republic. People nationalized industry and businesses and implemented socialist reforms in all parts of society. Castro returned, ousted rivals in 1959, and brought his own assumption of military and political power.

Credentials of Castro and cordial relations with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics alarmed the Administrations of Dwight David Eisenhower and John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who unsuccessfully attempted economic blockade, assassination, and even the invasion at Bay of Pigs of 1961 to remove him. In 1961, Castro proclaimed the socialist nature of his administration under rule of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. The press and suppression of internal dissent accompanied socialist reforms that introduced central economic planning and expanded care and education.

Castro countered these threats, formed an economic and military alliance with the Soviets, allowed them to place nuclear weapons on the island, and thus sparked sparking the missile crisis in 1962.

Internationally, Castro also served as general of the nonaligned movement from 1979 to 1983.

Abroad, Castro supported foreign groups in the expectation of toppling world capitalism, sent troops to fight in the wars of Yom Kippur, Ogaden, and Angola.

Following the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1991, Castro went into economic "special period" and afterward forged alliances in the Latin American pink tide, namely with Venezuela of Hugo Chávez, and joined the Bolivarian alliance in 2006.

Due to failing, Castro in 2006 transferred his responsibilities to his vice, who assumed in 2008.

Supporters lauded Castro, a controversial and divisive world figure, as a champion of socialism, humanitarianism, and environmentalism against imperialism; critics viewed him as a dictator, who oversaw multiple rights abuses, an exodus of more than a million persons, and the impoverishment of the economy of the country. Through actions and writings, he significantly influenced the politics of various individuals and groups across the world.

Reviews

[Ipsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Condemn me! It does not matter. History will absolve me.

[Charles Kato · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Prison Letters of Fidel Castro give an honest and in his own words look into the life of the person, lawyer and revolutionary, Fidel Castro, while imprisoned from 1953 until 1955.

How to read this book: Castro has always been demonized by American Society... No different than how American Presidents have been demonized by Cuba. Recognizing all of this as nothing more than tribalistic nationalism, it is important to read this book without such prejudice and try to see what Castro was trying to obtain for his people and himself instead of how those pursuits might or might not be in America's interest.

In his letters to friends and relatives Castro's unwavering resolve for the Cuban people is always evident. His goal seems to be an honest desire for Cuban's to have the best lives possible, meaning a revolution against Batista, and he seems willing to die in that pursuit. It is important to note, as Castro does often, that life under Batista was not pretty. Widespread corruption, illiteracy, casinos, brothels, U.S. companies buying up all the businesses, a 20% unemployment rate. When you realize how Castro saw life for Cubans under Batista, and when you add to that the support given to Batista by the United States, it is easy to see why Castro had issues with both.

The Castro of the 60's and beyond is a discussion for another book and maybe another review. But the case made by Castro in his Prison Letters shows a man with a justifiable concern for his countrymen and an unwavering desire for a justifiable revolution.

[Sean Mccarrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not giving this book a good review because I think very highly of Fidel Castro. I am giving this book a good review because I think it shows a unique historical perspective which cannot be found anywhere else. The fact that many of these letters were written to Luis Conte, who gave Castro such an honest rebuke in the epilogue, says volumes about the betrayal of Castro to the Cuban people. Even in his letters he complains about the inhumane treatment brought on by his solitude. Yet when he took power many of these "inhumane" people (along with many innocents) were put to death in even more inhumane manners. If one looks at Castro's record as a brutal dictator who stifled the will of his own people and prevented any sort of political dissent with capital punishment, then these letters show him for the hypocrite he truly is.

[Jada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Castros letters: 5 stars
the prologue and epilogue written by anti Castro counterrevolutionaries spewing anti communist propaganda: 0 stars
together: 4 stars

the letters humanize castro in a way that is refreshing to see. he’s passionate in every single one about his faith in the revolution, the Cuban people, his own strength and his love for the people he writes to. It is unfortunate that someone he considered his dearest friend would write an epilogue tarnishing him.

the way he would explain his feelings made me laugh and was also comforting. I could not imagine being in prison and yet still confident and certain justice would come. Still retaining humor.

ultimately he knows how to light a fire in people to keep them warm.

[Lennon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book offers an interesting look at a young battle hardened idealist who was going to lead a great country before he was rewired into a mean brutal dictator that limits everything he wrote about in these pages.

[Alek · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent left wing spanish practice for intermediate learners! Has spanish and english version of these letters together in one volume

[CTEP]

This book is a collection of letters written by Fidel Castro during his time as a political prisoner in Cuba between 1953 and 1955. The themes of the letters range from personal letters to family members, to the custody dispute over his son (his then wife divorced him while he was in prison and took their son the the United States), to coordinating radio and newspaper campaigns against the government of Fulgencio Batista with young opposition leaders. Disregarding the polemic surrounding Castro later in life, following the Cuban revolution, Cartas del Presidio offers a unique portrait of a young, idealistic leader with an undeniable will to change his country. The following quote, I believe, is representative of the mentality Castro maintains throughout the course of the correspondence collected in this book: "What matters now is to save our principles; if we save our principles, all is saved."



Personally, I chose this book because of my keen interest in the Cuban Revolution. However, as it relates to my service year, I chose it as a means to help improve and maintain my Spanish. Despite the fact that CLUES is centered primarily on serving the hispanic community, we serve a very diverse clientele. In fact, the majority of clients that I work with are not native spanish speakers. Recently however, I have had a few more Spanish speakers than normal coming to open lab, and I realized that it had actually been some time since I had used or practiced my Spanish. I really enjoy Latin American history and literature, and reading something engaging in Spanish, for me, has always been a good way for me to maintain and improve my language skills.



I do not know if this book would have a lot of application to other Corps members' service terms. However, anyone with an interest in the history of Cuba, or Latin America in general, should find it extremely interesting. To those who do not speak Spanish, the book is published with both the English and the Spanish version included.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

The letters themselves are presented in both the original Spanish and English translation, written between December 1953 and May 1955, when Fidel Castro was a political prisoner on the Isla de Pinos. Many of the letters are written to his siblings, others to his then dear comrade (turned political enemy), Luis Conte Agüero (and others).

While many of the letters are rather personal more than political, it is the political aspects that are most interesting from a political, historical and ideological perspective. Of greatest interest to me was letter number 11, addressed to Luis Conte Agüero. It lays out the principles one must adhere to as a revolutionary or leader-participant in any great social movement. Most notable in it are Castro's assertions that the base of the movement must come from the youth, so long as they are "tested and trusted" and his three criteria for a successful movement: ideology, discipline and leadership (leadership the most common and easily replaced).

When he is philosophical, when he reflects on what must be done, these letters are of great interest. When he tells his sister what kind of foods he would like to eat, significantly less so.

While I think the letters themselves are important reading for any social activist, I cannot in good conscience recommend this edition, with an introduction by Ann Louise Bardach and an epilogue by Luis Conte Agüero, both staunch anti-communists and apologists for the crimes of U.S. Empire, representing the worst of what Cuba has to offer, a man and a woman who support the strangulation of the Cuban people and the Cuban economy to the service of capitalist billionaires.

[Andrew Pritchard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fascinating look at the youthful pre-revolutionary Fidel Castro, focusing on his thoughts, feelings and hopes for Cuba, while he was a political prisoner between 1953-1955.

[Toni Medellin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating.

[Mercinko · Rating 5 out of 5]

hasta la victoria siempre!