NYTimes.com
Details Emerge of Cold War Nuclear Threat by Cuba
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: September 21, 2009

In the early 1980s, according to newly released documents, Fidel Castro was suggesting a Soviet nuclear strike against the United States, until Moscow dissuaded him by patiently explaining how the radioactive cloud resulting from such a strike would also devastate Cuba

The cold war was then in one of its chilliest phases. President Ronald Reagan had begun a trillion-dollar arms buildup, called the Soviet Union “an evil empire” and ordered scores of atomic detonations under the Nevada desert as a means of developing new arms. Some Reagan aides talked of fighting and winning a nuclear war.

Dozens of books warned that Reagan’s policies threatened to end most life on earth. In June 1982, a million protesters gathered in Central Park.

Barack Obama, then an undergraduate at Columbia University, worried about the nuclear threat and later wrote as a student and a journalist about ways to avoid global annihilation.

The future president didn’t know half the danger.

The National Security Archive, a private research group at George Washington University, recently made public documents that reveal the nuclear threat in new detail. The two-volume study, “Soviet Intentions 1965-1985,” was prepared in 1995 by a Pentagon contractor and based on extensive interviewing of former top Soviet military officials.

It took the security archive two years to get the Pentagon to release the study. Censors excised a few sections on nuclear tests and weapon effects, and the archive recently posted the redacted study on its Web site.

The Pentagon study attributes the Cuba revelation to Andrian A. Danilevich, a Soviet general staff officer from 1964 to ’90 and director of the staff officers who wrote the Soviet Union’s final reference guide on strategic and nuclear planning.

In the early 1980s, the study quotes him as saying that Mr. Castro “pressed hard for a tougher Soviet line against the U.S. up to and including possible nuclear strikes.”

The general staff, General Danilevich continued, “had to actively disabuse him of this view by spelling out the ecological consequences for Cuba of a Soviet strike against the U.S.”

That information, the general concluded, “changed Castro’s positions considerably.”

Moscow’s effort to enlighten Mr. Castro to the innate messiness of nuclear warfare is among a number of disclosures in the Pentagon study. Other findings in the study include how the Soviets strove for nuclear superiority but “understood the devastating consequences of nuclear war” and believed that the use of nuclear weapons had to be avoided “at all costs.”

The study includes a sharp critique of American analyses of Soviet intentions, saying the Pentagon tended to err “on the side of overestimating Soviet aggressiveness.”

Juanita Castro writes book about brothers Fidel and Raúl


The publicity campaign has begun for a book written by Juanita Castro, a longtime Miami resident and exiled sister of the two men who have ruled Cuba for 50 years.

A publication date of Oct. 26 has been announced for Mis Dos Hermanos -- Fidel y Raúl, My Two Brothers -- Fidel and Raúl, co-written with Maria Antonieta Collins. The book will cost $19.99.

The 432-page Spanish-language book has been in the making for a decade -- then shelved until recently.

``This is a testimonial told in the first person by someone who was there since birth, next to two influential political figures of Latin American politics -- her brothers,'' an ad for the book promises. ``This is the story Juanita Castro owed us all, but has never told, now here it is.''

Castro, who left her family behind in 1964 to come live in exile with more than a million other Cubans, has always kept a low profile in Miami, where for years she owned a pharmacy before retiring.

Get to know the US of A!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4q55Y6Q1CU
S.

Published: September 20, 2009

Cuba has gotten a lot of attention lately. According to a McClatchy news report, the island nation is facing a severe toilet paper shortage. The problem won't be alleviated until the end of the year. Cubans are forced to use their local news paper (which, luckily, is dirt-cheap).

Cuban officials blame the problem on the suffering global economy and last summer's hurricane season. CNN Commentator Fareed Zakaria may have identified a more accurate reason for the shortage: "Cuba's continuing commitment to its bizarro world of socialist economics."

The other news on Cuba was an updated version of its history as explained by Democratic Rep. Diane Watson of California's 33rd District. In a recent town hall meeting, she praised the efficiencies of the Cuban health care system and stated that Fidel Castro is the brightest leader she has ever met. She gave her constituents background on the Cuban revolution that most of us have never heard.

The good congresswoman told the audience, "And you know, the Cuban revolution that kicked out the wealthy? Che Guevara did that, and then, after they took over, they went out among the population to find someone who could lead this new nation, and they found an attorney by the name of Fidel Castro."

According to her biography, Watson holds a bachelor's degree in education from UCLA and a doctorate in educational administration from the Claremont Graduate School. One would assume she knows history.

Cuba was developed as a Spanish colony in the 1500s and run with an iron fist. The occasional rebellion was dealt with severely -- and little mercy was shown to insurgents.

U.S. intervention during the Spanish-American War helped the Cubans overthrow Spanish rule. The Treaty of Paris established independence in 1902. For half a century, corrupt politicians and brutal military leaders ruled the island. And then along came Fidel Castro.

Born in Cuba in 1926, Castro attended law school at the University of Havana and graduated in 1950. After practicing law for two years, his plans to run for parliament in 1952 were interrupted when the overthrow of the corrupt government du jour by Fulgencio Batista cancelled all elections that year.

Frustrated and angry, Castro led an unsuccessful attack on Batista's government in July 1953. He was captured by Batista forces and served two years in prison. After his release, he voluntarily exiled himself to Mexico -- where he met Ernesto "Che" Guevara in 1955. Never one to turn down a rebellion, Che, an Argentine, was quick to align himself with the young Cuban.

Castro returned to Cuba in 1956, leading a small band of rebels and attracting followers who were disgusted by the Batista government. On Jan. 1, 1959, Batista fled the island and in February, Castro became prime minister.

Once in power, Castro began revealing his Marxist agenda by confiscating property and nationalizing industry. He appointed hard-line communists to government positions. The break in U.S.-Cuban relations came when Castro confiscated American-owned oil refineries that refused to process oil purchased from the Soviet Union.

Castro was also quick to purge the Cuban population of any undesirables. By the mid-1960s, most of the Roman Catholic clergy, who had worked in orphanages, schools, and hospitals, had been expelled or fled the country. Of the few priests and nuns left, many were sent to gulags, along with artists, homosexuals, and others deemed unfit.

Castro's idea of human rights would be laughable if it hadn't brought such tragic consequences. Estimates put the numbers held in his concentration camps at more than 100,000 prisoners. Torture, rape, and beatings were -- and are -- common for political dissidents. Thousands met death at the hands of his firing squads.

And the role of Che Guevara in all this? Guevara held several posts in the all-new Cuban government, including minister of industry. He ran Castro's political prison, where he earned his endearing nickname, "The Butcher of La Cabana." At the fortress of San Carlos de la Cabana, Guevara ran a kangaroo court that was responsible for deciding which prisoners were to be shot on a daily basis.

In Guevara's own words, "To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary. These procedures are an archaic bourgeois detail. This is a revolution! And a revolutionary must become a cold killing machine motivated by pure hate."

Guevara had no problem condemning to death former military members, policemen, businessmen, and the occasional journalist. At one point, Guevara himself shot a 14-year-old boy at point-blank range. What a hero, what an icon!

Since Castro's resignation for health reasons, the country has continued its downward spiral under the leadership of his brother, Raul. Cuba is falling apart.

At least Cubans have a great, free, health care system that is far superior to ours. Both Watson and Michael Moore have pointed that out, right? Wrong. The reality of Cuban health care is that it is rationed and two-tiered. If one isn't a member of the elite ruling class, health care is a joke.

Even common drugs like aspirin are dispensed by prescription only. Hospitals are filthy and patients are required to bring their own bedding and fresh water.

Cuba is a beautiful land of lovely people but her problems are legion. To hold her up as an example of health care run right is like holding her up as a beacon of freedom. To tell Americans otherwise is wrong, Rep. Watson.

It looks like whomever wrote this article is as much in the dark regarding cuban history as the representative that they're chastising. No mention of the fact that the Cuban insurgents were about to finish off the Spanish when the Americans decided to intervene to further their own interests, what we now call the Spanish-American war. The article mentions Cuban "independence" being "granted" in 1902 but makes NO mention of the Platt amendment which effectively made Cuba an undeclared colony of the US. My message to whomever wrote this: Chastise if you will, and rightfully so, but don't gloss over history for you risk looking as foolish as the person you're attempting to correct.

We stole it fair and square what about Rep Watson or is he an untouchable like your buddy Good Time Charlie Rangel another lefty goofball

Watson's obviously some type of idiot who somehow managed to get a UCLA diploma and Rangel has nothing to do with what's being discussed. If you looked more carefully at my initital comment you would see that I agreed with the author of the article you posted for chastising Watson on her historical innacuracies...but then I chastised the author for their own whitewashing of history.

Four teams after Cuban defector

By Mark Miller

“AroldisCuban defector Aroldis Chapman became a free agent on Friday, and as predicted, the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and New York Mets are rumored to be after the fella with the 100-mph fastball, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The 22-year-old lefty will likely get much more interest if he shows his stuff off to scouts against some live hitting.

Chapman defected in July when the Cuban National team was playing in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. This was after he had a personal tongue-lashing from Cuban President Raul Castro and got suspended for most of the 2008 season after a failed defection in the spring of 2008.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. and again and again

Kudos Cibao!

Hate or love the revolution, its up to you .... but the facts and historical accuracy needs to be maintained.

Fidel Castro's sister says she worked with CIA while in Cuba
Fidel Castro's younger sister, Juanita, now living in Miami, reveals in a Univisión-Noticias 23 report on her new book that she worked with the CIA while living in Cuba.
Juanita Castro, the sister of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, talks to reporters about her brother

BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com

Juanita Castro, sister of Cuban rulers Fidel and Raúl Castro, cooperated with the CIA in the 1960s -- a time when the U.S. agency was plotting to assassinate Fidel and overthrow his revolution -- according to an exclusive Univisión-Noticias 23 report on her newly published book.

The report also revealed that Juanita, who broke with her brothers' revolution in 1964, 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.

Described as the Castro family's best-kept secret in the weeks that preceded the release of her book Monday, Juanita's revelation of her link with the CIA came as a short teaser at the end of a Univisión-Noticias 23 report on the book broadcast at 11 p.m. Sunday.

Juanita told the program that a person close to her and Fidel told her that ``The CIA wanted to talk with me . . . because they had interesting things to tell me and interesting things to ask of me. . . . I was left half-shocked, but in any case I told them yes.''

Maria Antonieta Collins, who co-authored the book and reported the television story, then added: ``Tomorrow: For the first time, a CIA agent who became the lifetime protector of a collaborator . . . and who dared propose to the sister of Fidel that she cooperate with the CIA, archenemy of the Castro brothers?''

Throughout the early 1960s, the Central Intelligence Agency was involved in dozens of plots to assassinate Fidel Castro, overthrow his government and sabotage the island's economy.

Castro has often put the total number of plots to kill him at more than 600.

While Juanita and Collins gave no other details on the CIA connection, officials at the television station said Juanita acknowledges in her book, 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.

Univisión-Noticias 23 will broadcast seven more segments of the Juanita Castro saga this week.

The book, published by Santillana USA, was to hit the stands simultaneously Monday in the United States, Mexico, Colombia and Spain.

Journalist Carlos Alberto Montaner, who wrote its prologue, told El Nuevo Herald last week that besides the key revelation the book contains ``very interesting and unknown news on the family of Fidel Castro, with a very inside, personal and critical view of the family.''

Juanita has been a public critic of her brothers' government since she left Cuba.

Now 76, she owned a Miami pharmacy for many years and is the fifth offspring of Angel Castro and Lina Cruz -- preceded by Angelita, Ramón, Fidel and Raúl and followed by Emma and Agustina.

In Sunday's TV broadcast, Juanita recalls that hers was ``just one more Cuban family'' until Fidel and Raúl led the 1953 attack on the Moncada army barracks that the brothers now celebrate as the beginning of their revolution.

CREATED CLINICS

After they ousted dictator Fulgencio Batista in early 1959, she worked on creating clinics and hospitals in the countryside.

The revolution soon began executing and jailing opponents and confiscating private properties.

``I begin to lose the enthusiasm when I see so much injustice and I say, this is not possible, they are wrong. Someone here is doing things badly,'' she said on the program.

``We tended to blame the people lower down, but the orders did not really come from the people lower down. They came from the upper levels, from Fidel, from Che, from Raúl.''

A friend now also in exile, Ana Ely Esteva, recalled on the TV program how Fidel handled the case of a top counter-revolutionary, Humberto Sorí Marín.

``Fidel had told Juanita, tell the mother to sleep well, that nothing is going to happen to him. And the next day, on the front page of the newspaper, the execution of Sorí Marín.''

HID REGIME CRITICS

Esteva also recalled that Juanita hid many critics of the Castro regime in her home. Juanita added that her mother also often helped government critics.

``My mother got help from whoever could help, especially Raúl because he was always very generous with her . . . she appealed to Fidel in some cases.''

But Lina Ruz died in August of 1963 and Juanita began to sense she was in danger.

``When she died, I had a very delicate situation in Cuba because of my activities against the regime. . . . Of course, with my mother, I always felt more protected. . . . I thought it would be harder for them to take drastic measures against me.''

``It was Raúl, who, knowing something about the activities of his favorite sister. tells her what he knows, and of Fidel's anger, and obtains a visa so that she can spend time in Mexico with Emma, another of the sisters,'' Collins reported, according to a transcript of Sunday's program provided to El Nuevo Herald.

Juanita said she last spoke to Raúl in person on June 18 1964, the day before she left for Mexico. Ten days later, she denounced her brothers' regime in a news conference.

``Members of the press in Mexico: the person who addresses you is Juanita Castro Ruz, sister of the prime minister of communist Cuba, Fidel Castro.''

Juanita's 432-page book was pulled together by Collins, a journalist who first began interviewing her for a book on her life in 1999.

But they put the project aside until earlier this year, Collins said.

Santillana 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.

Univisión-Noticias 23 negotiated the world exclusive on Juanita's tale with Santillana. But she could not give other interviews until the book hits the streets.