Fidel Castro: My Life: A Spoken Autobiography

by Fidel Castro, Ignacio Ramonet, Todd McLaren (Narrator)

For decades, people have tried to persuade the leader of the Cuban Revolution to tell his own life story. Ignacio Ramonet, the celebrated editor in chief of Le Monde diplomatique, has finally succeeded. For the first time, in a series of extensive and probing interviews, Fidel Castro describes his life from the 1950s to the present day. In frank and compelling detail, he discusses his parents and his childhood, his earliest influences, the beginnings of the revolution, his relationship with Che Guevara, the drama of the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Jimmy Carter years, Cuban migration to the United States, his dealings with successive American presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush, and his relationship with such controversial leaders as Saddam Hussein and Hugo Chavez. Along the way, Ramonet challenges Castro to discuss his views on a number of controversial questions, from human rights and freedom of the press to the repression of homosexuality and the survival of the death penalty in Cuba. This book will stand as the definitive record of an extraordinary life lived in turbulent times.

Genres: Nonfiction

Audio CD

Published February 15, 2008

About the author

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro overthrew the regime of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar in 1959, established a Communist state, served as prime minister until 1976 and then as president of the government and first secretary of the party, in declining health passed control de facto in 2006 to Raúl Castro, his younger brother, and officially retired in 2008.

Fidel Castro led a revolutionary movement that overthrew corrupt authoritarian regime of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar on New Year's Day, 1 January 1959.

Raúl Castro assisted Fidel Castro, his brother, in overthrowing the regime of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar in 1959.

United States in an attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro trained a force of 1,500 guerrilla troops, who landed at Bay of Pigs, the site, in an ill-fated invasion on 17 April 1961.

Castro, the illegitimate son of a wealthy farmer, adopted leftist anti-imperialist politics and meanwhile studied law at the University of Havana. He participated in rebellions against right wing in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, afterward failed in an attack on the barracks of Moncada, planned against the military junta, which the United States of America backed, and served imprisonment for a year in 1953. On release, he went to Mexico, formed the movement of 26 July as a group with Ernesto Guevara, his friend and doctor.

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, a politician, also served as the commander in chief of the armed forces. This politically Marxist-Leninist administered the socialist republic. People nationalized industry and businesses and implemented socialist reforms in all parts of society. Castro returned, ousted rivals in 1959, and brought his own assumption of military and political power.

Credentials of Castro and cordial relations with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics alarmed the Administrations of Dwight David Eisenhower and John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who unsuccessfully attempted economic blockade, assassination, and even the invasion at Bay of Pigs of 1961 to remove him. In 1961, Castro proclaimed the socialist nature of his administration under rule of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. The press and suppression of internal dissent accompanied socialist reforms that introduced central economic planning and expanded care and education.

Castro countered these threats, formed an economic and military alliance with the Soviets, allowed them to place nuclear weapons on the island, and thus sparked sparking the missile crisis in 1962.

Internationally, Castro also served as general of the nonaligned movement from 1979 to 1983.

Abroad, Castro supported foreign groups in the expectation of toppling world capitalism, sent troops to fight in the wars of Yom Kippur, Ogaden, and Angola.

Following the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1991, Castro went into economic "special period" and afterward forged alliances in the Latin American pink tide, namely with Venezuela of Hugo Chávez, and joined the Bolivarian alliance in 2006.

Due to failing, Castro in 2006 transferred his responsibilities to his vice, who assumed in 2008.

Supporters lauded Castro, a controversial and divisive world figure, as a champion of socialism, humanitarianism, and environmentalism against imperialism; critics viewed him as a dictator, who oversaw multiple rights abuses, an exodus of more than a million persons, and the impoverishment of the economy of the country. Through actions and writings, he significantly influenced the politics of various individuals and groups across the world.

Reviews

[Henrik · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A spoken autobiography", a collection of Fidel's reflections on his life, Cuban history, and various political topics where Cuba has been involved in some way or another. Done in collaboration with the journalist Ignacio Ramonet, this is more like a series of interviews about a variety of topics relating to Fidel Castro than a standard autobiography.

I did enjoy this book, as it gave me an insight into one of the more interesting and important figures in the past century, a man I knew very little about beforehand. It is, however, a book that I feel should be read as a supplement to other works on Castro/Cuba, for two main reasons: the expected bias, and the lack of details surrounding the events spoken about.

If one reads only this book, communist Cuba will come across as a country with very few flaws, and Castro as a benevolent leader who stands in contrast to the other, more brutal communist leaders/dictators. He is not to blame for the flaws of his country/system, critique of him is often just imperialist propaganda, whatever Cuba is accused of actually goes on in the USA as well and much worse, etc. While he is probably not the monster that anti-communist propaganda will make him out to be, the truth is probably somewhere inbetween. On this topic I must read more before making a final judgement.

There is also, I feel, a lack of basic details and information about the events spoken about. He touches upon his childhood and early revolutionary tendencies, about his years as a student, and suddenly we are told about his guerilla activities. What happened inbetween those times? For someone who lacked a lot of knowledge about both Castro and Cuba, the book was very lacking in this regard. One should know more about the basic events before jumping into this book, but it will make for an excellent (probably mandatory?) supplement to further Cuba-studies.

I was leaning towards three stars due especially to the lack of a lot basic information that could have been useful, but luckily the book did provide a timeline and an elaborate appendix.

[Elliot O'Rourke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was toting this thing around multiple Illinois counties reading like. huge chunks at a time and honestly made great progress until I started working on masters' program applications. At which point my progress CRAWLED. This is a long long long book with incredibly tiny type condensed very closely on the page.
Recently finished it because it was due back to the library today. It's been a hot minute since I've had a book renew this many times.
Great read if you're looking to muddy the waters of the way Americans traditionally talk about the Cuban Revolution and Cuba, especially as the embargo continues and is strengthened. Castro does begin to return over and over to the same points in the last 50 or so pages-- the interview process, the stress thereof, and his health/day to day responsibilities were wearing on his answers towards the end. Eloquent and a very gifted storyteller, to his credit.

Most novel place I read this: On a tattoo table in Pilson.

[Oscar Gómez · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting read, or listen in my case. I'm obviously a big fan of the Commandante. I think his persistence and contributions to the socilaist conception were invaluable. This format was conducted in an interesting way that I hadn't gone through before. But I did enjoy it overall. There is certainly some revisionism occurring through the perspective of Castro, but I think this is a fascinating read for any and all Marxist. I would see the biography of Che to be contemporary to this, and though the scope was much more narrow for the fact he lived much less, I would still prefer that book to this one. But this book is good and helps understand the Cuban experience and the thoughts of the charismatic leader of Fidel.

[Saaja K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remember reading this book on the train to and from uni. The format is intriguing, with the interviews and all. What left a mark on me were the stories from the early days of the revolution. What a life. Also made me look into José Martí which was cool.

[Kiarash · Rating 2 out of 5]

The interviewer pretty much gives carte blanche to a dictator to propagate whatever he wants. That being said, it’s interesting to see the opinions (and delusions) of a once relevant world leader.