Resource Type: Memoirs
Alonso Romero, Mercedes. Los Malagones. La Habana: Ediciones Verde Olivo, 1996.
This small book gives a history of the first special squad of rural revolutionary peasants combing the mountains in Pinar del Rio Province in 1959 in search of counterrevolutionary 'alzados.' It contains oral history from participants.

Artime Buesa, Manuel Francisco. Traición! Gritan 20,000 tumbas cubanas. México City: Editorial Jus, 1960.
This is a memoir of Manuel Artime Buesa a former INRA supervisor and literacy worker turned counterrevolutionary leader. It is a rambling account of his involvement as a revolutionary and a first lieutenent of INRA and then as a counterrevolutionary leader and charismatic figure in the MRR, a social democratic resistance group. Artime's is a representative account of the factors that led to many defections in this time period - the incarceration of Huber Matos, a basic anti-communist orientation in an increasingly radicalized political environment, a sense of opportunity slipping away. It can only be called a random and anecdotal account. Its main historical value is as an example of the middle class ineffectually coming to terms with what was happening around them. Published in 1960, it contains no discussion of the MRR of which Artime became the central leader.

Bayo, Alberto. Mi aporte a la revolución cubana. La Habana,: Imp. Ejército Rebelde, 1960.
This is Bayo's report of his participation in training members of the M-7-26 in Mexico.

Boza Masvidal, Eduardo. Algunas notas autobiograficas. Caracas, Venezuela:1998.
This is the autobiography of Mon. Eduardo Boza Masvidal (1916-2003). He relates the details of his life as a spiritual leader and of the expulsion of Catholic priests by the revolutionary government and his experiences in exile. For further information regarding Fr. Boza see (Boza Masvidal 1997).

Carbonell Cortina, Néstor. And the Russians Stayed: The Sovietization of Cuba: A Personal Portrait. New York, NY: Morrow, 1989.
This is an account of personal and family involvement, first in anti-Batista and then in counterrevolutionary activities, by an upper class family. Moderation was interpreted as reform of the Republic via a system of elections in 1958 in defiance of popular consensus that the electoral process was irretrievably corrupt and rigged. The author's family was involved in supporting the independent candidacy of Carlos Marquez Sterling representing the Free People's Party, an independent party promoting a government of national unity. The combination of civic duty and privileged indulgence is expressed clearly in the work. The author recounts the death of family members who became involved in clandestine anti-Castro activities, the imprisonment of others in the 1959 invasion known as the 'Trujillista,' as well as participation in the Bay of Pigs. It represents the position of the elite moderate right during the era.

Central Latinoamericana de Trabajadores.. El Presidio político en Cuba comunista: testimonio. Caracas, Venezuela: ICOSOCV Ediciones, 1982.
More than forty testimonies are organized and reported as part of a meeting of former political prisoners held in Caracas in 1980. The proceedings of the meeting are organized chronologically and by types of political prisoners and conditions of prison life under the revolutionary government. This is the clearest and most detailed account yet compiled of the sociology of post-1959 political prison in Cuba and of the politics of continued resistance within the prisons. Many of those imprisoned in the early 1960's were revolutionaries who broke with or conspired against the direction of the revolution. Some have been involved in exile politics since their release from prison and are supporters of dissident groups that have surged in Cuba since 1989.

Chomón, Faure. El asalto al palacio presidencial. La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, 1969.
This personal account of the commando attack intended to kill Batista at the Presidential Palace on 3/17/57, contains a detailed description of relationships among the leaders of the Directorio Revolucionario (DR) as well as biographies of some of its leaders. Other actions by the group are related including a daring, successful escape of DR members from el Principe Prison that provided a trial run for the palace attack.

Clark, Juan M., and Angel De Fana and Amaya Sánchez Human Rights in Cuba: An Experiential Perspective. Miami, FL: Saeta Ediciones, 1991.
The authors present oral history and description of political prisoners in Cuba.

Crespo Francisco, Julio. Bandidismo en el Escambray, 1960-1965. La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, 1986.
The author's second account of the combing of the Escambray.

Crespo Francisco, Julio. El Cerco. La Habana: Editorial Letras Cubanas, 1984.
More tales of the Escambray, this from the perspective of a cazador, a militia member engaged in encircling and exterminating resistance forces in the post-1959 period.. The book is held at only three libraries, the University of Arizona, The University of Florida and Columbia University.

Fernandez Barrios, Flor. Blessed by Thunder: Memoir of a Cuban Girlhood. Seattle, WA: Seal Press, 1999.
This biography traces the intersection of a young girl's life with public events. It presents the difficult choices experienced by many Cubans who held democratic beliefs as post-1959 politics became increasingly radical. The 1959-1973 time period is covered.

Fibla González, Alberto. El 84. Miami, FL: San Lázaro, 1993.
This is a collection of short testimonies and remembrances from the author, a former political prisoner, who served 25 years in various Cuban prisons from 1962-1987. The book also contains newspaper articles and letters written by or about the author.

Golendorf, Pierre. 7 años en Cuba. Barcelona, Spain: Plaza & Janes, 1977.
Originally published in French, this is the personal testimony of a member of the French Communist Party with social democratic orientation who originally went to Cuba to facilitate cultural exchange in the mid-1960's and was eventually arrested and imprisoned for three years as part of the 'Padilla affair.' The book provides description of the life of Cuban intellectuals and artists during the period and the limits of their expression.Golendorf also critiques the Cuban social democratic political prisoners he encountered in Cuban prisons.

González, Reinol. Y Fidel creó el punto X. Miami, FL: Saeta Ediciones, 1987.
Gonzalez, a leader of the MRP and former M-26-7 official, describes his experiences in the underground and in the political prisons but, especially, in Punto X, a series of interconnected houses at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 14th Streets in the Miramar section of Havana, which was used for the torture and interrogation of political prisoners. In 1961, Gonzalez was subjected to one of the best known televised 'confessions' where he was made to recount his anti-government activities and to recant his opposition to the revolutionary government. The text of his speech is included in this detailed memoir. After sixteen years of incarceration, Gonzalez was released into exile in 1977 through the intervention of the Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Guerrero, María Luisa. Elena Mederos, una mujer con perfil para la historia. Miami, FL: Of Human Rights and Ediciones Universal, 1991.
This biography describes the character, accomplishments and political attitudes of Elena Mederos who, among many achievements, was the first Minister of Social Welfare under the revolutionary government and, later, a major force in promoting island/exile dialogue and Cuban human rights work.

Hidalgo, Ariel. Disidencia: segunda revolución cubana?. Miami, FL: Ediciones Universal, 1994.
Hidalgo, a former university professor, was classified as a 'leftist deviationist' and spent time in the UMAP and in political prisons from the mid-1960s through the 1980's. His experiences and political analysis are presented in this volume. He represents a second wave or younger generation of political prisoners who not only held moderate views but advanced non-violent action in response to government repression. This work reveals both the overlap of generations in prison and the evolution of political thinking among moderate dissidents.

Juan, Eduardo de. Jardín de héroes: presidio político: relato autobiográfico del horror en las prisiones castristas. Miami, FL: D'Fana Editions, 1997.


La Villa Gonzalez, Raquel. Habanera fue. Miami, FL: Ediciones DAC, 1999.
Habanera fue is both a series of writings by and a group of tributes to the life of Raquel La Villa Gonzalez (1940 -1997). La Villa was an activist first in the M-26-7 and then in the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil of 1960 and the Instituto Jacques Maritain.

Llerena, Mario. The Unsuspected Revolution. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1978.
Llerna identifies himself as a 'middle-class reformer or moderate.' He seeks to tell the tale of how moderates were incorporated into the revolutionary struggle in Cuba and how they were then excluded from the Castro government. He argues that the political context in Cuba during the 1950s made all anti-Batista groups radical in their actions, although their philosophies and programs were different. A well written account.

Llovio-Menéndez, José Luis. Insider: My Hidden Life as a Revolutionary in Cuba. New York, NY: Bantam Books, 1988.
This is a biography of one of the most important defectors from the Cuban hierarchy. Llovio-Menendez served in a number of high positions in finance, culture and agriculture in Cuba for sixteen years. This is his justification and explanation of his involvement and his disaffection. He discusses political process and personalities in Cuba distinguishing the 'mayimbe” (elite) and 'liborio' (mass) classes.

Macaulay, Neill. A Rebel in Cuba: An American's Memoir. Chicago, IL: Quadrangle Books, 1970.
The memoirs of a North American mercenary who fought with the 26th of July Movement thinking that he would receive a 'veteran's compensation' (land and cheap credit) at the end of the struggle. He traces his disenchantment when his traditional views were rejected and his land was confiscated in the post-1959 period.

Morell-Romero, José. Revolution in Cuba: Memoirs of a Combatant. Tallahassee, FL: Suncoast Professional Publishing Corporation, 1993.
Written by a leader of the 1930 Student Directorate, this personal history covers a period from the 1930's to the early 1960's by which time the author was a member of the Supreme Court of Cuba. He entered exile for the fourth time in November 1960, after writing dissenting opinions upsetting to the regime. Morell is a case example of a respected individual with good reputation and character within the generally corrupt pre-revolutionary system.

Muller, Alberto. Cuba, entre dos extremos. Miami, FL: Ediciones Universal, 1984.
Alberto Muller was a leader of the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil and a Catholic activist who was captured in the Sierra Maestra where he led a band of 'alzados' trying to stimulate another insurrection in 1961. His book has the traditional form of Cuban personal narratives from men of action - a general history that places the author, his associates and his personal action in the context of the historical analysis. Interestingly, Muller gives estimates of the size of resistance forces in the early 1960s. His categories include alzados in the Escambray & the Sierra Maestra, people in the cities and numbers in the province of Matanzas. He gives a figure of 14,500 active participants in these groups and a total of 200,000 who would have responded if the Bay of Pigs forces had been coordinated with internal resistance groups. He does not provide a methodology for how he calculated these totals. A typology of the political prison population between 1959 and 1970 is also offered.

Navarro, Antonio. Tocayo. Barcelona, Spain: Buenos Aires, 1986.
A personal testimony of one man's involvement in CIA sponsored activities in the 1959-1961 period prior to the Bay of Pigs invasion. The account emphasizes the author's upper class attitudes and trappings.

Pardo, Angel. Cuba: memorias de un prisionero político. Miami, FL: Ahora, 1992.
Pardo has prepared a detailed history of daily prison life of those political prisoners who refused all rehabilitation plans and insisted on their status as political prisoners (los plantados). Pardo’s politics and his 'crime against the State' are vague. He was an 'alzado' (member of a rebellion especially those found in the Escambray Mountains after 1959) and was betrayed by a double agent who came from Miami claiming to represent an exile group interested in continuing armed struggle inside Cuba but who was in service of the revolutionary government. Having recruited a group, the double agent then gave evidence against them. Pardo received a 30 year sentence.

Pardo's recalcitrant attitude in prison resulted in his being "tapiado" (sealed up) in a solitary ward for years along with some of the best known representatives both of the democratic left and of the Batista regime(e.g., Eloy Gutierrez-Menoyo, Huber Matos and Roberto Martin Perez). The account describes the various political lines that initially divided the prisoners between revolutionary resistance and reactionary Batistianos. These lines blur as some prisoners come to insist on a stubborn and generalized opposition. Rather than offering a specific political program congruent with the political views that resulted in incarceration, the protagonists in Pardo's history fight their jailors.

The book suffers from having no index. This is especially regrettable since the account contains specific data on deaths in prison, jailers, prison conditions and description of the most stubborn prisoner resistance and the worst torture imposed within the political prisons between the 1960s and 1980s.

Pérez-Vidal, Angel. Historia íntima de la Revolución Cubana. Miami, FL: Ediciones Universal, 1997.
Written by a former aide to President Urrutia, this is a memoir of life in the Presidential Palace during Urrutia's term. The author describes the constant conflict between Urrutia's social democratic approach and the wishes of Fidel Castro or his representatives.

Phillips, R. Hart. Cuba, Island of Paradox. New York, NY: McDowell Obolensky, 1959.
Ruby Hart Phillips wrote this account of politics in Cuba just as the revolution was taking power. She covers the period 1933 - 1959 when she was a witness to events as she worked first as a photographer and then as the New York Times' chief correspondent in Havana. She analyzes the struggle of various political factions from an elite Northamerican perspective.

Pombo Matamoros, Mario. Conversando con un mártir cubano: Carlos González Vidal. Miami, FL: Ediciones Universal, 1997.
This is a prison memoir written by Mario Pombo Matamoros to a friend executed in 1961 following the bombing of Havana's major department store, El Encanto. The memoir is exceptional in several ways. First, most of the accounts written by former revolutionaries who were later political prisoners are written by 'plantados' (prisoners who refused all rehabilitation plans offered by the revolutionary government, insisting on their political differences). By contrast, Pombo is one of those who accepted the second rehabilitation plan (el plan progresivo) in which prisoners did not have to 'confess' their political errors or undergo political re-education. Second, his prison experience (physical conditions, free time, work conditions, etc) after entering the plan in 1970, is decidedly improved compared with that lived by the 'plantados.' Finally, the author was eventually released as part of the 1978 'dialogue' held between exiles and Fidel Castro.

Pombo analyzes the anti-democratic tendancy in Cuban political culture, seeing the proliferation of small political action groups as counterproductive. Like many political activists the efficacy of violent versus nonviolent action is a more central concern than political ideology or governance.

Portuondo, Yolanda. 30 de noviembre: el heroico levantamiento de la ciudad de Santiago de Cuba. Santiago de Cuba: Editorial Oriente, 1986.
The volume is a compilation of oral histories by participants in the 26th of July Movement having to do with the formation of the organization in Oriente province and with the 30th of November 1956 uprising in Santiago. Both elite members of the Cuban government and lesser known figures relate their memories. The material is compiled from newspaper accounts and ephemera of the era rather than direct interviews.

Quijada G, Francisco. Cuba bajo el terror; observaciones de un periodista en misión diplomática. Caracas:1962.
The author, a Venezuelan journalist, was posted to Havana in 1961 as a commercial attache. During his time in Cuba diplomatic relations were broken and he was prevented from entering the Venezuelan embassy having to seek asylum in the Mexican embassy. He subsequently had a series of televised interviews in Venezuela about his experiences and observations of the political spectrum in Cuba. This small volume compiles the transcripts of the interviews and other documents related to the incident.

Rodríguez, Ana, and Glenn Garvin Diary of a Survivor: Nineteen Years in a Cuban Women's Prison. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, 1995.
Rodriguez relates her pre-1959 activity in the 26-7-M, post-1959 work in the urban revolutionary resistance and nineteen years of imprisonment on political charges. She describes the realities of women's political resistance in prison.

Rodriguez, Felix I., and John Weisman Shadow Warrior. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989.
Shadow Warrior is the memoir of Felix Rodriguez, a Cuban born CIA agent credited with capturing Che Guevara in Bolivia. A portion of the book is dedicated to Rodriguez's connection to the MRR and its leader, Manuel Artime, in Costa Rica during the mid-1960s. This was the period when resistance in Cuba had been eliminated and the best known Cuban exile action groups were ordered to stop operations from U.S. soil causing most of the Democratic Left to either disband or relocate their organizations to Latin American nations. The description provides a case example of the complex sponsorship and association of the democratic Cuban resistance groups with the CIA and right-wing Cuban exiles.

Rodríguez-Loeches, Enrique. Bajando del Escambray. La Habana: Editorial Letras Cubanas, 1982.
Rodriguez-Loeches, one of the participants in the attack on the presidential palace, a founder of the Directorio Revolucionario of 1955 and later of the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil of 1960 (DRE), relates his experiences both in the city and the Escambray mountains during the struggle against Batista.

Sales, Miguel. Desde las rejas. Miami, FL: Ediciones Universal, 1976.
This volume contains prison letters, short essays and poems written in prison during the 1960s and 1970s. The author was twice imprisoned for political activity in Cuba.

Sánchez, Nerín. Mis 6440 días de prisión en Cuba Roja: los plantados solos, desafiando al tirano con los brazos abiertos cual cruz clavada en un desierto: testimonio. Miami, FL: Ediciones Vals, 1999.
Despite an off-putting, overwrought title, this book contains valuable information. Unlike many of the testimonies of political prisoners this memoir focuses primarily on prison conditions and the interaction of the author with his jailors. It presents the efforts of a 'plantado' (die-hard) to give political meaning to his jailhouse situation.

Smith, Earl E. T. The Fourth Floor: An Account of the Castro Communist Revolution. New York, NY: Random House, 1962.
This is the account of a former Ambassador for the United States to Cuba writing about his experiences using an analysis of bureaucratic location as a factor in influencing decision-making. Smith's frustrations and regrets come through clearly.

Valls, Jorge. Twenty Years and Forty Days: Life in a Cuban Prison. New York, NY: Americas Watch, 1986.
Written by Jorge Valls, a leader of the University of Havana's Directorio Revolucionario of 1957 and of the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil of 1960, this is a prison memoir. Valls was one of the most recalcitrant of the political prisoners in Cuba during the 1960's and 1970's. This work documents his political philosophy as well as the sociology of the political penitenciaries of the era. Additionally, the nature of Valls' offense and the direct involvement of Fidel Castro in his interrogation exemplfy the often highly individualized, personal and vindictive nature of political punishment during the era.

Varona Laredo, Manuel Antonio de. El drama de Cuba ante América. México City: Centro de información democrática de América (C.I.D.A.), 1960.
Written by the former Prime Minister of Cuba who later led the Frente Revolucionario Democratico (FRD), the coalition of exile groups in Miami, this is his personal statement about why he left Cuba. It contains copies of several primary documents related to the FRD.

Youngblood, Jack, The Devil to Pay. New York, NY: Coward McCann, 1961.
Youngblood is a self-described mercenary who lived through the Cuban insurrectionary era fighting with the M- 26 - 7. He relates the history of shifts from radical to more moderate positions by prominent figures.

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