My friend Silvio Canto Jr. was in the Batchelor Show talking about his book, Cubanos in Wisconsin,
From the quiet Cuban town of Ciego to the bustling city of Havana, no Cubans were unaffected by Fidel Castro’s rise to power in the late 1950’s. Fidel’s Revolución, which began with rallies, parades, and truckloads of hope, smothered the island of Cuba with oppressive public policies that gutted the small nation’s system of enterprise and muzzled the vibrant Cuban culture of the 1950s. Symbols of capitalism were torn down and private schools were replaced with “Revolutionary Schools” established to spread Castro’s message. The country’s religious leaders were excommunicated and proud Cuban traditions like the Cuban Winter Baseball League became Fidel’s props, instruments for social and economic control. As more and more dissenters were imprisoned or killed fighting shadow wars to overthrow the regime, it was clear that human rights had become a fairy tale that existed across the sea in America.
You can listed to the show here, and buy the book from Amazon.
I heard this the other night on Batchelor’s program, very good to hear Silvio and to put a voice to the man that wrote this…