It’s impossible for me to separate Idalia’s delusions from the reality around her. Afro-Cubans in neighboring areas were joining el Movimiento in large numbers, and they were eager for Castro to “see” them, to remake this nation and share it with them. Where there is violence, where there is resistance, there is paranoia. The police, at Batista’s orders, were cracking down and killing young militiamen. It’s estimated that twenty thousand people on the small island were murdered by the Batista regime, many in horrific and very public executions.
