Frank Sinatra sang That’s Why The Lady Is A Tramp! And we could sing a thousand times of Fidel Castro and Kim Jong Il, That’s Why The Leader Is A Preposterous Fraud. But the real man was Vaclav Havel, and I quote him from a speech he gave in support of political prisoners everywhere: Ladies and gentleman, allow me to start with a short recollection. Many years ago, when I was behind bars, I needed to see a dentist. There was no dentist in the prison and when the prison authorities realised that I was serious, I was escorted to a civil dentist by a guard. I was in handcuffs and prison stripes and stared straight ahead of me as I sat between two guards. I was very curious to watch … [Read more...] about Death’s Error
Fidel Castro
The man who knew Fidel Castro, Warhol and Franco’s Spain
It’s over half a century since the artist Waldo Díaz-Balart left Cuba. On January 1, 1959, he was seeing the New Year in at Havana’s Tropicana nightclub with the son of President Andrés Rivero Aguero, when he heard the news that the Revolution had triumphed. The 27-year-old Díaz-Balart knew he had to leave the island. His father, Rafael, had been a minister in the Batista government and had already left for the United States. His situation was also uncomfortable for social reasons: his sister, Myrta, had been married to a young man called Fidel Castro. They divorced in 1955. “On the one hand the Balart family had been in power and on the other, my sister had been married to Fidel … [Read more...] about The man who knew Fidel Castro, Warhol and Franco’s Spain
Freed Cuban dissidents adjust to life in Spain
When the Cuban dissident Ricardo González was released from jail and put on a flight to Spain, what struck him first about his newfound freedom was the airline food. “The thing that impressed me on the flight to Madrid was the fact the food was hot,” González, 60, said. “I hadn’t eaten hot food for seven years and four months.” This is just one of the many changes González and a group of other freed Cuban prisoners have experienced since the government’s announcement July 7 that over the next few months it will release the 52 dissidents still behind bars following a 2003 clampdown that put 75 people in jail. The decision is the result of diplomatic efforts by the Spanish government … [Read more...] about Freed Cuban dissidents adjust to life in Spain