by Daniel Nardini
I do not know how many people there are today either in the United States or the world that still believe in Communism, and Fidel Castro’s version of it, but they would do well to read the book The Secret Life of Fidel Castro by Juan Reinaldo Sanchez. Sanchez, once Fidel Castro’s bodyguard and part of Castro’s inner retinue, got to know Fidel Castro only too well over a 17-year period. Sanchez was so committed to Fidel that he was ready to take a bullet for him, and shadowed Fidel Castro everyday 24 hours a day, seven days a week to protect and serve Fidel. A loyal member of the Communist Party of Cuba, Sanchez remained blind until recently to the things of how Fidel Castro lived.
Fidel Castro had his own private yacht that he used to travel to and from an island that was off-limits to all other Cubans and was his sole domain. The island had a luxurious marina complete with dolphins and a turtle farm. There Castro lived in opulence unimaginable to ordinary Cubans who were barely able to eat and have a roof over their heads. During the “Emergency Period” in the 1990’s, when the Soviet Union had collapsed and ordinary Cubans were asked to eat less and do with less, Fidel Castro entertained numerous mistresses and even had a cigar box full of diamonds from Angola. Since being in power, Fidel Castro NEVER had to worry about anything—he had the best living conditions (a huge private estate outside of Havana, and even a huge swimming pool and basketball court) and the best medical facilities in Cuba.
All of this made Sanchez realize that contrary to the image that Fidel Castro has cast of himself being a “noble statesman sacrificing for the people,” Castro had, and most probably still does, live like a king. All of this disillusioned Sanchez who was brought up to believe that Castro had been the savior of Cuba and a true revolutionary. From Sanchez’s own experience, Fidel was neither. The end came for Sanchez all too quickly. In 1994, Sanchez’s brother had defected to the United States. This automatically caused Fidel and the Cuban leadership to suspect Sanchez himself of disloyalty. Despite his professed loyalty to Fidel Castro and the Communist Party of Cuba, Sanchez was demoted. When Sanchez asked to resign since he no longer felt he was trusted, Fidel had Sanchez thrown into a cockroach-infested prison and tortured. Eventually Sanchez was released and made a dramatic escape from Cuba in 2008.
Sanchez now lives in the United States like so many other Cuban exiles. Once a loyal subject of the Communist Party of Cuba, Sanchez intends to destroy Fidel Castro and the Communist Party of Cuba with the truth as he knows it. That may be easier said than done since millions of copies of Fidel Castro’s writings are in circulation not only in Cuba today but all around the world. From Venezuela to Bolivia and Nicaragua, Fidel Castro, like Ernesto Che Guevara, looms larger than life and still dominates the political landscape of so many leftist governments and leftist movements in Latin America and throughout the world. Even in the United States, there are many books and pamphlets put out by leftist groups of Fidel Castro’s speeches and his revolutionary ideas. Exposing the real Fidel Castro and all that he really is will take a long time to kill Castroism.
The Slow Death of Castroism
by Daniel Nardini
I do not know how many people there are today either in the United States or the world that still believe in Communism, and Fidel Castro’s version of it, but they would do well to read the book The Secret Life of Fidel Castro by Juan Reinaldo Sanchez. Sanchez, once Fidel Castro’s bodyguard and part of Castro’s inner retinue, got to know Fidel Castro only too well over a 17-year period. Sanchez was so committed to Fidel that he was ready to take a bullet for him, and shadowed Fidel Castro everyday 24 hours a day, seven days a week to protect and serve Fidel. A loyal member of the Communist Party of Cuba, Sanchez remained blind until recently to the things of how Fidel Castro lived.
Fidel Castro had his own private yacht that he used to travel to and from an island that was off-limits to all other Cubans and was his sole domain. The island had a luxurious marina complete with dolphins and a turtle farm. There Castro lived in opulence unimaginable to ordinary Cubans who were barely able to eat and have a roof over their heads. During the “Emergency Period” in the 1990’s, when the Soviet Union had collapsed and ordinary Cubans were asked to eat less and do with less, Fidel Castro entertained numerous mistresses and even had a cigar box full of diamonds from Angola. Since being in power, Fidel Castro NEVER had to worry about anything—he had the best living conditions (a huge private estate outside of Havana, and even a huge swimming pool and basketball court) and the best medical facilities in Cuba.
All of this made Sanchez realize that contrary to the image that Fidel Castro has cast of himself being a “noble statesman sacrificing for the people,” Castro had, and most probably still does, live like a king. All of this disillusioned Sanchez who was brought up to believe that Castro had been the savior of Cuba and a true revolutionary. From Sanchez’s own experience, Fidel was neither. The end came for Sanchez all too quickly. In 1994, Sanchez’s brother had defected to the United States. This automatically caused Fidel and the Cuban leadership to suspect Sanchez himself of disloyalty. Despite his professed loyalty to Fidel Castro and the Communist Party of Cuba, Sanchez was demoted. When Sanchez asked to resign since he no longer felt he was trusted, Fidel had Sanchez thrown into a cockroach-infested prison and tortured. Eventually Sanchez was released and made a dramatic escape from Cuba in 2008.
Sanchez now lives in the United States like so many other Cuban exiles. Once a loyal subject of the Communist Party of Cuba, Sanchez intends to destroy Fidel Castro and the Communist Party of Cuba with the truth as he knows it. That may be easier said than done since millions of copies of Fidel Castro’s writings are in circulation not only in Cuba today but all around the world. From Venezuela to Bolivia and Nicaragua, Fidel Castro, like Ernesto Che Guevara, looms larger than life and still dominates the political landscape of so many leftist governments and leftist movements in Latin America and throughout the world. Even in the United States, there are many books and pamphlets put out by leftist groups of Fidel Castro’s speeches and his revolutionary ideas. Exposing the real Fidel Castro and all that he really is will take a long time to kill Castroism.