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October 27, 2009
The sister disagrees
by Dennis Johnson
Fidel Castro: Some women liked him, some didn't
MobyLives previously reported (here) on Juanita Castro, the estranged sister of Cuban strongmen Fidel Castro and Raúl Castro, and her forthcoming book. It is forthcoming no longer: It’s here, and among its revelations are that she “cooperated with the CIA in the 1960s — a time when the U.S. agency was plotting to assassinate Fidel and overthrow his revolution.” According a report in the Miami Herald by Juan O. Tamayo, Juanita Casto says in Fidel and Raúl, My Brothers: The Secret History “that she collaborated with the CIA both inside Cuba and after she went into exile in 1964.”
The Herald also says Juanita “hid government opponents in her home; that Fidel refused to visit her because the house was ‘surrounded by worms;’ and that their mother often intervened with Raúl to help Castro critics, jailed or fugitive.”
“The CIA wanted to talk with me … because they had interesting things to tell me and interesting things to ask of me,” says Juanita Castro. “I was left half-shocked, but in any case I told them yes.”
Fidel and Raúl, My Brothers was released simultaneously yesterday in the US, Mexico, Colombia and Spain by Santillana USA. The publisher thought it was so hot they “kept the book in sealed boxes and secured pallets to avoid leaks — much like the Harry Potter books are guarded until the day of their release.”
Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.
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