A new trash-talking biography by a disaffected bodyguard says the Cuban leader owns houses galore, can’t dance, and always has to win when he shoots hoops.
Sometimes, the biggest danger to a ruler is not an opposing politician, but somebody working in their own home.
Various residents of the White House had their dirty laundry aired earlier this year by staff, and now it’s Fidel Castro’s turn.
Juan Reinaldo Sanchez was part of Castro’s elite security team. For 17 years he saw the inner workings of the Cuban leader’s life. In 1994, he tried to retire. However, instead of letting him fade away on a farm somewhere, he was imprisoned and tortured. In 2008, he finally managed to defect. Now, as retribution, Sanchez has written a tell-all that dishes on the myth-infused life of Fidel Castro, The Double Life of Fidel Castro: My 17 Years as Personal Body Guard to El Lider Maximo. It is a fascinating look into the mind of one of the world’s most enigmatic figures, as well as a detailed reminder of just how different the reality of Cuba is from that promised by Castro’s revolution.
WNU Editor: I was in Cuba about ten years ago .... on vacation .... and I hated it. My parents loved to go to Cuba in the 1990s when Cuba's tourism industry was first starting .... but that changed when I introduced them to Hawaii (DUH!!!). As to what is my own take on Castro .... I know about the houses/villas/private estates .... and (of course) on the brutal police state that he and his brother run to make sure that they stay in power .... but the story that I will always remember about Castro comes from my former colleagues in the Foreign Office. During the Cuban missile crisis Castro was pushing Khrushchev to start a nuclear war against the U.S. .... an idea that Khrushchev taught was insane. That perception in the FO that Fidel Castro is insane remains to this day .... but .... Moscow will still do business with him and his brother .... which tells me more about Moscow than Fidel Castro.
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