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Castro's Final Hour
Reported from inside Cuba by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Andres Oppenheimer, Castro's Final Hour chronicles the dramatic events that have crippled the more-than-three-decades-old Marxist regime of Fidel Castro.
Castro's Final Hour is a compelling and intimate portrait of the Cuban leader, and an authoritative evaluation of what the future may hold for his country.
Castro's Final Hour is a compelling and intimate portrait of the Cuban leader, and an authoritative evaluation of what the future may hold for his country.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
480 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1992
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78 people want to read
About the author
Andrés Oppenheimer
22 books352 followersAndrés Oppenheimer es columnista de The Miami Herald y de El Nuevo Herald. Fue miembro del equipo ganador del Premio Pulitzer, ganador del Premio Ortega y Gasset , ganador del Premio Rey de España, y ganador del Emmy. Es autor de ¡Basta de Historias!, Cuentos Chinos, Saving the Americas y varios otros best-sellers.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 4, 2012
Andres Oppenheimer is currently an editor and columnist for The Miami Herald, and his previous posts at the Herald include Mexico City bureau chief and foreign correspondent. He shared the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for his role in uncovering the Iran-contra scandal, and aside from Castro’s Final Hour, he has written four other books on Latin American history and politics – three of them in Spanish. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oppenheimer credits his fluent Spanish with getting him interviews in Cuba that many other foreign journalists would be unable to obtain, and his experience as a journalist undoubtedly separated him – for better or worse – from academics who have attempted to do the same research. He also has a background in law – he studied for four years at the University of Buenos Aires’ Law School.
Castro’s Final Hour was written at a “time of major uncertainty” in Cuban history: “the twilight of the Soviet bloc,” and Oppenheimer is quick to recognize that. He understands that 50 to 90 percent of the Cuban economy relies on Soviet-subsidized trade, and he contends that the loss of that vital part of the Cuban economy will lead to the downfall of Fidel Castro and Cuba’s socialism. He is careful not to put a timetable on that downfall however, acknowledging that Castro could remain in power for years to come, but his thesis is clear: that “Castro’s Socialist revolution destroyed itself after the collapse of world communism."
Oppenheimer’s research for the book is extensive. He interviewed more than 500 Cubans, from gas station attendants to members of the Communist Party Central Committee, and he talked with officials in the Castro-backed regimes of Panama and Nicaragua, including Gen. Manuel A. Noriega and former Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega. He did not talk to Castro directly, a fact he writes off as a result of his talks with dissidents, but he uses Castro’s speeches and conversations with those he interviewed to fill in the cracks. Oppenheimer describes a Cuba that is full of violent tensions – between the old leaders of the Communist party and reformers, between Cubans and Cuban exiles, and most importantly and complexly between Cubans and foreigners.
In describing the conflict between the old guard hard-liners and the reformers, Oppenheimer relies heavily on documents and conversations surrounding the Fourth Congress of Cuba’s Communist Party, something he claims “was seen by many Cubans as Castro’s last chance to reform the system.” He cites fear of a Cuba without Castro as one of the primary reasons reformers sought to change the system and describes a detailed plan to create a prime minister to take care of day-to-day business for the country. The plan was covered up by the regime, but it would have allowed for a gradual political opening Oppenheimer says could have given “the revolution a second wind." But that plan, along with all other major reforms, was ignored by the Fourth Congress Organizing Committee. Even a plan to establish free farmers markets – a reform classified documents obtained by Oppenheimer revealed was demanded by 3,300 people, an incredible number under a government with a history of repressing dissidents – failed to materialize on the congress’ agenda.
Oppenheimer describes many of the people in Cuba as “zombies” content with the status quo in a Cuba that was “a paradise for the idle and inept.” These zombies, Oppenheimer argues, were “Fidel Castro’s main hope for political survival.” The make-work policies of Castro’s government employed 304,000 people with job descriptions that included performing obscure research with no hope of being published. Those and similar jobs – Oppenheimer also speaks with a man who works in an 82-person orchestra that played exclusively in a mental hospital for an audience of 10-15 patients – are not only absurd to capitalist outsiders; they also discourage creativity and encourage passive acceptance of government policy. Those who were naturally lazy or incompetent benefited the most from the Castro regime, and they did not trust the majority of Cuban exiles who wanted to return to a post-Castro Cuba and said so on the U.S.-based Radio Martí. Some of the exiles were already planning to reclaim property that another family may have lived in for thirty years; Oppenheimer brings up plans to collect data for a “Registry of Expropriated Properties in Cuba” as early as August 1990. To many Cubans, it seemed like they had a personal stake in the survival of the Castro regime, and racial tensions didn’t do anything to assuage those fears. Most Cuban exiles were upper-class whites, and the Cubans who had moved into their homes were primarily lower-class blacks. Whereas whites had long feared that Cuba could become a black island like Haiti, blacks now feared “a return to white dominance.” Those who had gained so much from the revolution did not plan on giving it up without a fight.
Cuban exiles weren’t the only ones Cubans feared would take over in the event of Castro falling from power; Oppenheimer refers to the concern that U.S. interests would take over – possibly resulting in Cuba becoming a U.S. protectorate. That fear helped Castro capitalize on cubanidad, the Cuban nationalism that had been vital to the initial success of his revolution, and use it to solidify his support. On the other hand, he undermined that nationalism – and even socialism – to ease Cuba’s economic woes and help the island’s tourist industry. As the Soviet bloc began to demand that Cuba pay for goods in U.S. dollars, tourism meant an influx of that currency, and Castro aimed to increase the number of foreign tourists to one million in 1995 from 340,000 in 1990. Government officials projected an annual income of $350 million in 1991 and steady growth that would make that number $1 billion by 2000. The influx of dollars wasn’t the only effect of Castro’s efforts to encourage tourism however; there were also the beginnings of clear class delineations. Not only were tourists catered to at the expense of Cubans, but Cubans who worked in hotels and other places frequented by Canadian, Western European, and Latin American visitors began to amass wealth at rates exponentially faster than other Cubans – in large part because they were tipped in dollars, but also because of the free-market properties Castro allowed in the tourism industry. Oppenheimer refers to the fact that foreign hotel owners “were now allowed to lay off workers at their will,” a conspicuous departure from Cuba’s laws guaranteeing job stability (287). Oppenheimer gives a first-hand account of his ability as a foreigner to bypass gasoline lines, and the disgruntled response of a Cuban woman still waiting in line: “Cuba no longer belongs to us Cubans! This has become a country for foreigners!” To Oppenheimer’s credit, he apologized after that test of his powers as a foreigner, but the situation does demonstrate the disparity between the way regular Cubans and “‘those who rule,’” as the woman called Cuban lawmakers, view the privileges afforded to tourists.
The evidence presented in Castro’s Final Hour describes a Cuba with overwhelming tensions and a government that seems apt to fall at any moment, but Castro is still in power 14 years after the book was completed. Time magazine book reviewer Cathy Booth argues that the very things that Oppenheimer describes – the corruption, the disintegration of ideals, the crushing poverty of many Cubans – are the very things that keep Castro in power. Booth finds the book “a truer, if sadder, portrait of Cuba today,” though she seems to lament the lack of “fresh observations” Oppenheimer adds to the description of business ties between presidential son Jeb Bush, the Cuban Exiles, and U.S. policy toward Cuba. Booth observes that the absence of Castro’s direct voice in the book is appropriate because of the way he handles Cuba: “he pulls the strings offstage, but he is rarely glimpsed up close.”
In the Cuban historiography, Castro’s Final Hour is a valuable look at Cuba at the time of the Soviet disintegration. It offers exemplary description and analysis of the six years (1986-1992) that arguably have been the most important to Cuba since the 1959 revolution, and Oppenheimer’s research is well-documented. His evidence and arguments are clearly presented, and enjoyable to read. That said, it’s difficult to say whether or not he has proven his thesis by the end of the book. His claim that “Castro’s revolution destroyed itself after the collapse of world communism” is both true and false. Oppenheimer’s evidence clearly points to a revolutionary Cuba that has wiped out its own political ideals, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Castro is on his way out. Castro has destroyed and rebuilt his vision for Cuba several times; his ability to adapt is one of the keys to his political survival. Castro’s Final Hour is an interesting and informative read, but at this point, 14 years later, the title and subtitle – The Secret Story Behind the Coming Downfall of Communist Cuba – seem to have been a bit premature. Castro’s ability to come out on top with enough political capital to survive for so long after the Soviet pullout and the Cuban unrest of the late 1980s and early 1990s show his uncanny ability to survive political turbulence. For all of Oppenheimer’s intricate research and the clarity of his damning evidence against the Cuban government, Booth is right. Castro’s regime looks nearly invincible a decade and a half after the seconds started ticking away on Castro’s Final Hour.
Castro’s Final Hour was written at a “time of major uncertainty” in Cuban history: “the twilight of the Soviet bloc,” and Oppenheimer is quick to recognize that. He understands that 50 to 90 percent of the Cuban economy relies on Soviet-subsidized trade, and he contends that the loss of that vital part of the Cuban economy will lead to the downfall of Fidel Castro and Cuba’s socialism. He is careful not to put a timetable on that downfall however, acknowledging that Castro could remain in power for years to come, but his thesis is clear: that “Castro’s Socialist revolution destroyed itself after the collapse of world communism."
Oppenheimer’s research for the book is extensive. He interviewed more than 500 Cubans, from gas station attendants to members of the Communist Party Central Committee, and he talked with officials in the Castro-backed regimes of Panama and Nicaragua, including Gen. Manuel A. Noriega and former Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega. He did not talk to Castro directly, a fact he writes off as a result of his talks with dissidents, but he uses Castro’s speeches and conversations with those he interviewed to fill in the cracks. Oppenheimer describes a Cuba that is full of violent tensions – between the old leaders of the Communist party and reformers, between Cubans and Cuban exiles, and most importantly and complexly between Cubans and foreigners.
In describing the conflict between the old guard hard-liners and the reformers, Oppenheimer relies heavily on documents and conversations surrounding the Fourth Congress of Cuba’s Communist Party, something he claims “was seen by many Cubans as Castro’s last chance to reform the system.” He cites fear of a Cuba without Castro as one of the primary reasons reformers sought to change the system and describes a detailed plan to create a prime minister to take care of day-to-day business for the country. The plan was covered up by the regime, but it would have allowed for a gradual political opening Oppenheimer says could have given “the revolution a second wind." But that plan, along with all other major reforms, was ignored by the Fourth Congress Organizing Committee. Even a plan to establish free farmers markets – a reform classified documents obtained by Oppenheimer revealed was demanded by 3,300 people, an incredible number under a government with a history of repressing dissidents – failed to materialize on the congress’ agenda.
Oppenheimer describes many of the people in Cuba as “zombies” content with the status quo in a Cuba that was “a paradise for the idle and inept.” These zombies, Oppenheimer argues, were “Fidel Castro’s main hope for political survival.” The make-work policies of Castro’s government employed 304,000 people with job descriptions that included performing obscure research with no hope of being published. Those and similar jobs – Oppenheimer also speaks with a man who works in an 82-person orchestra that played exclusively in a mental hospital for an audience of 10-15 patients – are not only absurd to capitalist outsiders; they also discourage creativity and encourage passive acceptance of government policy. Those who were naturally lazy or incompetent benefited the most from the Castro regime, and they did not trust the majority of Cuban exiles who wanted to return to a post-Castro Cuba and said so on the U.S.-based Radio Martí. Some of the exiles were already planning to reclaim property that another family may have lived in for thirty years; Oppenheimer brings up plans to collect data for a “Registry of Expropriated Properties in Cuba” as early as August 1990. To many Cubans, it seemed like they had a personal stake in the survival of the Castro regime, and racial tensions didn’t do anything to assuage those fears. Most Cuban exiles were upper-class whites, and the Cubans who had moved into their homes were primarily lower-class blacks. Whereas whites had long feared that Cuba could become a black island like Haiti, blacks now feared “a return to white dominance.” Those who had gained so much from the revolution did not plan on giving it up without a fight.
Cuban exiles weren’t the only ones Cubans feared would take over in the event of Castro falling from power; Oppenheimer refers to the concern that U.S. interests would take over – possibly resulting in Cuba becoming a U.S. protectorate. That fear helped Castro capitalize on cubanidad, the Cuban nationalism that had been vital to the initial success of his revolution, and use it to solidify his support. On the other hand, he undermined that nationalism – and even socialism – to ease Cuba’s economic woes and help the island’s tourist industry. As the Soviet bloc began to demand that Cuba pay for goods in U.S. dollars, tourism meant an influx of that currency, and Castro aimed to increase the number of foreign tourists to one million in 1995 from 340,000 in 1990. Government officials projected an annual income of $350 million in 1991 and steady growth that would make that number $1 billion by 2000. The influx of dollars wasn’t the only effect of Castro’s efforts to encourage tourism however; there were also the beginnings of clear class delineations. Not only were tourists catered to at the expense of Cubans, but Cubans who worked in hotels and other places frequented by Canadian, Western European, and Latin American visitors began to amass wealth at rates exponentially faster than other Cubans – in large part because they were tipped in dollars, but also because of the free-market properties Castro allowed in the tourism industry. Oppenheimer refers to the fact that foreign hotel owners “were now allowed to lay off workers at their will,” a conspicuous departure from Cuba’s laws guaranteeing job stability (287). Oppenheimer gives a first-hand account of his ability as a foreigner to bypass gasoline lines, and the disgruntled response of a Cuban woman still waiting in line: “Cuba no longer belongs to us Cubans! This has become a country for foreigners!” To Oppenheimer’s credit, he apologized after that test of his powers as a foreigner, but the situation does demonstrate the disparity between the way regular Cubans and “‘those who rule,’” as the woman called Cuban lawmakers, view the privileges afforded to tourists.
The evidence presented in Castro’s Final Hour describes a Cuba with overwhelming tensions and a government that seems apt to fall at any moment, but Castro is still in power 14 years after the book was completed. Time magazine book reviewer Cathy Booth argues that the very things that Oppenheimer describes – the corruption, the disintegration of ideals, the crushing poverty of many Cubans – are the very things that keep Castro in power. Booth finds the book “a truer, if sadder, portrait of Cuba today,” though she seems to lament the lack of “fresh observations” Oppenheimer adds to the description of business ties between presidential son Jeb Bush, the Cuban Exiles, and U.S. policy toward Cuba. Booth observes that the absence of Castro’s direct voice in the book is appropriate because of the way he handles Cuba: “he pulls the strings offstage, but he is rarely glimpsed up close.”
In the Cuban historiography, Castro’s Final Hour is a valuable look at Cuba at the time of the Soviet disintegration. It offers exemplary description and analysis of the six years (1986-1992) that arguably have been the most important to Cuba since the 1959 revolution, and Oppenheimer’s research is well-documented. His evidence and arguments are clearly presented, and enjoyable to read. That said, it’s difficult to say whether or not he has proven his thesis by the end of the book. His claim that “Castro’s revolution destroyed itself after the collapse of world communism” is both true and false. Oppenheimer’s evidence clearly points to a revolutionary Cuba that has wiped out its own political ideals, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Castro is on his way out. Castro has destroyed and rebuilt his vision for Cuba several times; his ability to adapt is one of the keys to his political survival. Castro’s Final Hour is an interesting and informative read, but at this point, 14 years later, the title and subtitle – The Secret Story Behind the Coming Downfall of Communist Cuba – seem to have been a bit premature. Castro’s ability to come out on top with enough political capital to survive for so long after the Soviet pullout and the Cuban unrest of the late 1980s and early 1990s show his uncanny ability to survive political turbulence. For all of Oppenheimer’s intricate research and the clarity of his damning evidence against the Cuban government, Booth is right. Castro’s regime looks nearly invincible a decade and a half after the seconds started ticking away on Castro’s Final Hour.
September 24, 2019
Although a bit dated with the death of Fidel, nonetheless an important book to understand the inner workings of the state he created and which has thus far endured. I travelled to Cuba during the period Oppenheimer writes about and his descriptions of the hardships imposed on the Cuban people following the collapse of Russian aid are spot on. Also valuable are his descriptions of how the regime manipulates divisions within Cuban society to remain in power, such as promoting the Afro-Cuban population and how it coopted the Santeria religion. Also some very humourous bits, as when the author tries to track down a famous pre-revolution cooking show host, now reduced to coming up with endless new ways to use potatoes (because that's what was available).
Highly recommend this book for those wanting to understand Cuban society.
Highly recommend this book for those wanting to understand Cuban society.
October 30, 2025
It is extremely unfortunate that such a solid book has such a bad title. In fairness to Oppenheimer, who could have predicted in 1990-1992 that Fidel would last in power for another decade and a half, or that the handover of power to his younger brother, Raul, would go over so smoothly when it did finally happen? For years, I had understood this book to be the result of him dropping into Cuba mid-crisis in the early 1990s, then writing a poverty porn style book about how bad things were during his two weeks, before hopping back on a plane to the US. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In reality, the book is a deeply reported 400 page behemoth that includes not only interviews with a number of high ranking Cuban officials but a wealth of information on background from various officials about the government's infighting. It seems clear he had some high ranking friends in the government as he could sometimes access important documents shared only with party members. I think it is, ironically, the best work of journalism that I have read so far on this key period in Cuban history, and heartily recommend it to others.
In reality, the book is a deeply reported 400 page behemoth that includes not only interviews with a number of high ranking Cuban officials but a wealth of information on background from various officials about the government's infighting. It seems clear he had some high ranking friends in the government as he could sometimes access important documents shared only with party members. I think it is, ironically, the best work of journalism that I have read so far on this key period in Cuban history, and heartily recommend it to others.
April 28, 2021
Un libro de corte documental, dónde el autor escribe con una facilidad de palabra y atrapa desde sus primeras páginas, un libro donde se propone escribir el pronóstico al que de acuerdo a sus conclusiones se encamina Cuba y la caída inminente de Fidel Castro y el comunismo, este libro cabe recalcar que el autor lo escribe en 1993, después de 6 meses de estancia en Cuba y diversas entrevistas, inicia a finales de los 80’s con los procesos que se imputaron al Coronel Arnaldo Ochoa y a Tony de la Guardia, miembro del buró político de Castro, pasando a las intromisiones políticas y económicas de Estados Unidos en los países de corte comunidad como la caída de Nicaragua y su influencia en Panama, con los objetivos claros que el embargo económico hacia Cuba, de igual forma se sucede con la caída del bloque comunidad en Europa Oriental y el inicio de la Perestroika, en todo momento haciendo notar el rápido descenso de la economía en Cuba, así como de su política exterior, llegando así al peor período de crisis en la isla con el período especial de llamado al resistencia, terminando su análisis con el 4to congreso comunista donde se fijarían las directrices políticas, económicas y sociales de la isla. Pronosticando a partir de los 90’s el fin de Castro, El libro se escribe de una manera crítica y tendenciosa sin embargo la hora final de Castro no llegó en los 90’s pero finalmente llegó sin embargo el cambio inminente del País no ha llegado, sin embargo y al margen de la lectura que invita a hacer una mayor investigación sobre la situación política, económica y social posterior a los 90’ s a la actualidad, se dejaba venir una posible transición con Barak Obama que quedó suspendida a la entrada al poder de Trump, sin embargo ahora parece que la propuesta se encuentra nuevamente sobre la mesa con Biden, posterior a la lectura de este libro se encuentra interesante conocer cuál será el destino de ese País que ha vivido aferrado al comunismo y resistiendo.
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March 19, 2024I read the entire book in Spanish before I found out that the original was published in English. Also I read it in 1996 believing the author that Castro was on his way out of power. However, Castro did not step down until April 16, 2021 and it was a time of his own choosing.
August 15, 2013
Fantastic window into that world. It reads rather well, but I think that people without prior experience on the subject will be left bored to tears with abreviations and particulars about a political machine that few outside of the country understand. Nonetheless, this is a very engaging way to learn more about the subject. It probably drew significant criticism from the Exile Community, rather than widespread circulation and praise. It's now over 20 years since it was printed, so in many ways it's a document that serves more to preserve the people's history at the time, than any single publication within the island at the time.
Be patient while reading.
Be patient while reading.
January 27, 2012
Castro's Final Hour is an anti-Catro's book and it bias is so pronounced that it is difficult to read. It is written with hatred feelings of resent and anger; and in that way it is really difficult to derive some new value or knowledge from the text. It is a shame because this author is fantastic and I have read so many good things from him; and watched endless hours of his program and I really can't understand how he could become so emotional about this topic; as he has never been about any other topic.
November 28, 2016
One of the books that opened my eyes "wide" to the bitter reality of Castro's domestic failures and increasing pain inflicted on the people of the island by the Cuban revolutionary regime and the US embargo when I read it 23 years ago. Highly recommended.
April 19, 2010
Good insight into all the bad in Castro's empire. Most interesting for the emphatic predictions of the fall of communism -nearly two decades ago.
January 28, 2013
The story of Cuba after the fall of the Soviet Union. Superb !
March 19, 2013
This is a great book, I read this a very long time ago and it gave me a great outlook on Castro. Very well written.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews