Fidel. Un dialogo lungo trent'anni

by Gianni Minà

Era il 1974 quando Gianni Minà incontrò per la prima volta faccia a faccia Fidel Castro, in occasione di un match di boxe all’Avana. Nel tunnel che conduceva agli spogliatoi dei pugili gli rivolse alcune domande, alle quali il líder máximo replicò: «Dovremmo vederci in ufficio, per rispondere a tutto. Siamo in piedi, qui». Qualunque altro giornalista avrebbe considerato quella di Fidel una risposta di cortesia, ma non Minà, che da quel giorno lavorò incessantemente per dare seguito all’invito, fino a ottenere, nel 1987 e di nuovo nel 1990, le due interviste più lunghe mai rilasciate da Castro a un giornalista occidentale. Due autentici scoop, seguiti da altri due incontri, l’ultimo dei quali, nel 2015, un anno prima che Fidel morisse, in occasione della visita di papa Francesco a Cuba. Proposte per la prima volta assieme, queste quattro interviste rappresentano un’occasione unica per riflettere su una Rivoluzione tra le più longeve della storia, al netto sia delle mitizzazioni che delle condanne a priori. Dagli anni della rivolta contro il regime di Fulgencio Batista all’amicizia e al sodalizio con Che Guevara; dall’embargo statunitense e il disastro della Baia dei Porci alla crisi missilistica; dai rapporti con l’Unione Sovietica alla lunga stagione delle riforme economiche; dalla questione dei diritti umani agli scenari post-guerra fredda e al ruolo della Chiesa cattolica come facilitatrice di nuove forme di dialogo, Fidel non si sottrae al confronto, né Minà al compito di porre domande scomode. Ne emerge il ritratto di un uomo complesso e di grande spessore, in grado di far coesistere luci e ombre, e di intuire con grande anticipo i problemi del nuovo millennio.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics

552 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 31, 1991

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fidel Castro is one of the greatest heroes in modern history.

[E Money The Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was at the library looking for a book about Cuba. Why? Idk I’ve read a lot about Cuban history already but I had a hankering. The thing that sucks is how much chaff you gotta sort through…

One hangover of the Cold War is the incessant propaganda. The US government sunk millions into crap studies and bunk reports about Cuba. I saw this funny one about how evil Cuban Communists are liquidating all black people on the island. LOL. Book was for sure financed by the Hamburger Eagle Institute.

The book I really wanted to find was We Are Cuba! but alas I will probably need to order that one myself.

So this book…

This interview with Castro takes place as the USSR, the main trading partner of Cuba, is collapsing and Cuba is preparing to go into the “special period”. It’s interesting how this small island under constant siege by their rabid bully up north manages to pull through the 1990s. Of course, thats not the main focus here.

We get some talk of numerous achievements the revolution won the people of Cuba from healthcare to education. There are chapters dedicated to questions of human rights and religious freedom. Propaganda is discussed during pretty much every chapter.

Anyways I give this 5 meows! At the point of this interview the Cuban people have won their island for about 30 years and accomplished so much!

They made great medical breakthroughs and have today surpassed their much richer neighbor in health outcomes.

They turned 30% literacy to full literacy in just a few years!

They sent food to Vietnam at a time when the US Empire was dumping millions of tons of toxic Agent Orange attempting to kill all of their food production.

They assisted multiple African countries in their own liberatory struggles against European colonialism and played a deciding role in Angolan freedom and ending South African apartheid (which the US now pretends it didn’t support - it did).

They developed multiple highly effective inoculations against many diseases including of course COVID.

They closed down all the brutal torture facilities run by the pet dictator Batista. All but one: Gitmo, which still operates today.

They ran out the mafia.

Women can now be employed in all sectors of industry and government, not just prostitution like before.

They even passed Civil Rights legislation at a time when the US was still Jim Crowing it up.

Or you can believe the dumb US propaganda about Cuba being a paradise interrupted by evil communists or whatever. Then you can go applaud weird Shen Yun cultists making the same tall tales about Chinese history.

[Arturo Real · Rating 3 out of 5]

Desde la anécdota a lo programático, y tras una entrevista de 15 horas, en este libro el entrevistador italiano hace un completo acercamiento a Fidel Castro que resulta ameno e interesante. Especialmente interesantes son sus apuntes sobre medicina pública, política exterior, o su relación con el Che.

[lau · Rating 5 out of 5]

fidel podía hablar de todo

[Marco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Modi diversi di concepire la civiltà