Fidel y Raul, mis hermanos. La historia secreta (Spanish Edition) [Spanish]

By Juanita Castro, María Antonieta Collins, Juanita Castro Ruz, et al.

Book Overview

Hace diez anos Juanita Castro se decidio a escribir sus memorias y gracias a una doble y fortuita coincidencia: ser su amiga y ser periodista, fue que comenzamos a trabajar en ellas. Al terminarlas en 1999, simplemente decidio no publicarlas, y a lo largo de la decada, ambas compartimos el secreto de guardar el libro, -el primero que yo habia escrito-.Sorpresivamente, en este 2009 decidio abrir su alma en un extraordinario recorrido por el triunfo y la tragedia de su vida, y por ende, en los acontecimientos que han marcado las vidas de millones en los ultimos cincuenta anos. Esta es una gran historia para cubanos y para quienes no lo son. Es el testimonio contado en primera persona, por alguien que estuvo desde que naciera, junto a dos de los personajes politicos de la historia contemporanea de America Latina: sus hermanos Fidel y Raul. Es por lo tanto una radiografia -la mas cercana y fidedigna- que alguien pudiera hacer de los suyos: de su madre, de su padre, de los abuelos y de todos los hermanos incluyendo los famosos y los que decidieron no serlo. Es el recuento de la mujer que rompio con todo, y quien en 1964 vino a vivir al exilio cubano en los Estados Unidos. Es la historia que Juanita Castro nos debia a todos, la que nunca ha contado a nadie, y aqui la tienen.Maria Antonieta Collins ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Ten years ago, Juanita Castro set down to write her memoirs, and thanks to the fortunate coincidence that I was both her friend and a journalist, we began working on them together. When we finished in 1999, Juanita decided not to publish them, and for the past ten years we kept this bookthe first one I had writtena secret. Surprisingly, Juanita chose this year, 2009, to bear her soul in an extraordinary journey through the triumphs and tragedies of her life and, consequently, the events that have shaped the lives of millions of people during the past fifty years. This is the first-hand testimony of a person who, from the moment of her birth, was connected by the deepest bond to two of the most notable political figures of contemporary Latin American history: Fidel and Raul Castro, her brothers. It is, therefore, the most intimate and accurate analysis any person can do of their own kin: mother, father, grandparents, and brothers, the famous and those that chose to stay out of the limelight. It is the account of a woman that severed all ties, a woman that in 1964 joined the Cuban exile in the United States. It is a story for Cubans and non-Cubans alike the story Juanita Castro owed each and every one of us; a story that had not been told until today. Maria Antonieta Collins "

• Format: Paperback
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN: 160396701X
• ISBN13: 9781603967013
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Aguilar
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 1.0" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

Interesting Story, A Must Read...

I purchased this book for my husband so he could read about the Secret History behind the Castro Brothers that are running the Cuban Government. He told me a lot about the book, so I ending up reading the book also and thought that it was Great !!!

Exciting, Sincere, and Inspiring

Juanita Castro's story is one of principle overruling ambition and personal benefit. After reading her book, I am in awe of her on so many levels. This is a woman who, at a young age, knowingly made a decision that would forever separate her from a family she cherished, from a country she loves, and leave her with nothing and no one. She chose to walk away from a life of comfort, status, and privilege to follow her conscience--all the while knowing that she would face the censure (and possible retaliation) from her family, the judgment of her countrymen, and a life of loneliness and hard work lived apart from all she had held dear. Like others, I applaud her courage in actively working to subvert a government that she, from her privileged perspective, knew to be corrupt and nefarious. All her fears and expectations in that regard came true. She couldn't change it, but she tried. I certainly admire that. But I am much more impressed by her courage in knowingly choosing the difficult and painful path and then living the subsequent decades of her life in quiet pain and unrelenting dignity. The courage that is demonstrated by a lasting commitment is much more difficult and rare than the courage shown in a single temporary noble effort. She has demonstrated both types of courage and the price she has paid over the years is evident between the lines of her story. At this point in her life, she is not angry or bitter or defeated, but she is exhausted. It has been an awful burden for one person to bear, but she has borne it. Her brother Fidel once said (quoting Hitler) that history would absolve him. Fidel and Raul chose the rewards of absolute power and personal gain where others would pay the price of their ambitions. The prospect of absolution is highly unlikely. The other siblings took whatever benefits they could get from their connections and shut their eyes and their voices, and somehow justified to themselves that they chose the easy path. But Juanita stands alone as proof that, where you least expect it--in the darkest places and the worst moments--there is a spark of sheer goodness and strength that redeems our faith in humanity. For that, (and for everything else you did): Thank you.

Para ver la otra cara de la moneda de Fidel

Es un libro fascinante, que lleva al vicio a quien lo lee, ya que cuando se comienza, no se quiere dejar ni para dormir, uno quiere saber mas y mas, dando una idea muy clara de la parte de Fidel de la cual casi nadie habla. Es muy real y sobre todo se siente muy sincero, es un libro que se merece que se lea.

La verdad como un templo.

Para cualquier interesado en los asuntos Cubanos en general y Fidel en particular, este libro es una obra reveladora sobre los entresijos del complejo personalidad del Comandante Fidel Castro. Para los admiradores de Fidel, el libro de Dona Juanita debe ser algo chocante dado la cantidad de libros publicado vitoreandolo. A veces, no hay nada mas doloroso que la verdad en pelota. Este libro merece cinco estrellas.

A Spellbinding Revelation

"In the end, in the eyes of God, all the glory and power in the world fit in a grain of rice. He is the one who judges, only Him." With these words, Juanita Castro Ruz concludes her captivating memoir. This is the perfect ending for a book written by a deeply religious and family loving person, not by an unbiassed outsider who would use qualifiers such as merciless tyrants, murderers, thieves, megalomaniacs etc. to describe her brothers for what they really are. Juanita's lenient representation, in my opinion is understandable. Readers expecting a Castro bashing book will be disappointed. In spite of acussing her brothers of betraying the revolution, and exposing some of Fidel's ruthlessness, Juanita refrains from using well deserved negative expressions to describe them. But there are some topics missing in the book: The author doesn't mention that Fidel Castro is among the wealthiest heads of state second only to Queen Elizabeth II with a billion dollars in foreign investments. Communism at its best! (Forbes Magazine, 2003) She doesn't reveal that his beloved brother Raul is addicted to alcohol and suffers from severe bouts of depression, for the man has a very low self esteem. She doesn't mention that Raul as a "compassionate" six-year-old, along with his brother Fidel, loved to perform appendectomies in live ducklings by mercilesslly cutting them in half. (I own the video tape in which Raul laughs at his childhood adventures.) As a Cuban exile that escaped to America in the early sixties and lived through the Castro brother's treachery, I strongly recommend an English translation for the benefit of those Americans who still believe in Santa Claus and think that what happened in Cuba cannot possible replicate in the Land of the Free. Juanita's book made me feel like I was looking at the past through a forbidden keyhole. I've read its 425 pages in one day. I just couldn't put it away. I also recommend this must-read to the many Hollywood useful idiots and T-shirts makers who have sanctified the iconoclastic figure of Che Guevara, for Juanita describes the atheist mass-murderer in vivid and honest detail. I truly believe that Ms. Castro was, and still is a dedicated and sincere patriot. Fortunately, her memoir sees the light of day as timely as a sunrise. Andrew J. Rodriguez Award winning author: "Adios, Havana," a Memoir IN SPANISH: "Al final, en los ojos de Dios, toda la gloria y poder en el mundo caben en un grano de arroz. El es el que juzga. Solo El." Con estas palabras, Juanita Castro Ruz concluye su fascinante memoria. Es el perfecto final para un libro escrito por una persona profundamente religiosa y amante de su familia, y no por un critico imparcial que utilizaria merecidos calificativos tales como tiranos despiadados, asesinos, ladrones, megalomaniacos etc. para describir a estos hermanos por lo que verdaderamente son. La representacion de Juanita es indulgente, lo que es facil de entender. Aquellos lectores que esper