Author Article: The Wellspring of AMERICA LIBRE

Reflecting on my past, it’s not surprising I would write about a rebellion. I saw one unfold firsthand in Cuba between 1957 and 1961. That political upheaval is more than a childhood memory for me. It was the crucible that forged my character, even as it shaped my destiny.

In 1957, my father joined Castro’s emerging revolution. “How can you risk your life like this? You have a son,” my mother told her husband. My father answered: “It’s for him I’m doing this.” They divorced shortly afterwards.

My mother brought me to the United States and remarried but still dutifully sent me to Cuba during summer breaks from school to see my father. Spending the summers with my father, I witnessed the life of an insurgent. He tried to hide it, but it’s impossible to completely fool your child. My father and uncle smuggled contraband supplies from Havana to Castro’s rebels in the mountains using a used tire business as a cover. My father and uncle were not ideologues or intellectuals but ordinary men convinced they were helping rid their country of a tyrant. They risked their lives without pay on the hope of a better future for their families. Sadly, their deeds helped usher in a dictator many times worse.

Perhaps the most sobering experience of Castro’s revolution was learning how fragile a government can be. Castro’s predecessor, Fulgencio Batista, fled the island on New Year’s Day in 1959 as Castro’s rebels closed on Havana. The next day, the police and military no longer had the might to maintain public order. Riots and violent reprisals against Batista supporters wracked Havana. Absent only one man, the government vanished. Only Castro’s arrival in Havana nine days later restored order.

Castro’s sudden rise to power transformed Cuba. During Castro’s massive rallies, I watched my relatives angrily chant anti-American slogans. But to me, Americans were not the hated capitalist enemies of Castro’s speeches. They were kids and neighbors and teachers – people I knew. As Castro prepared Cuba for a war with the U.S. that all believed was inevitable, I saw how some leaders use hate, fear, and patriotism for their own ends. I was eleven years old and given military weapons training. That’s how desperate Castro’s war preparations were.

Thanks to my mother, I managed to escape. She returned to Cuba and arranged a trip for us to visit relatives in Madrid. When our flight made a stop in Bermuda, we got off the plane. Eventually, we were able to return to the United States. We have not had any contact with our Cuban relatives since that day. These experiences were the wellspring for many of the characters and scenes of America Libre.  The realization that sincere and caring people inhabit both sides of every conflict continues to shape my perspective to this day.