Gonzalo Fernandez discusses Cuba’s Primer: Castro’s Earring Economy

Sat 5/15  7pm-8pm

Gonzalo Fernandez discusses Cuba’s Primer:  Castro’s Earring Economy

Accompanied by Teresa Fernandez, Gonzalo's wife, who will sing Cuban songs

The general public in America has always had a fascination with Cuba - from cigars, to Castro - and Gonzalo Fernández's new book, "Cuba's Primer - Castro's Earring Economy" provides an in depth knowledge of the country's historical background from independence to current conditions on the Island.

The book also serves to help fill the gap for the estimated more than 200,000 second and third generation Cuban Americans of the history and stories of their homeland.

An excerpt from the book:
"The night before our departure from Cuba in 1966 we stayed at my mother-in-law's home. My wife and I spent the night in the guest room on the second floor, with a door opening unto a terrace on the front side of the house. I did not sleep. There were far fewer cars, but the wild driving habits remained. Cars were speeding and would screech to a halt at the stop sign a few yards down the street. It was the same room where we stayed when the Batista police was looking for me in 1956. I thought about that horrible night. My mind flashed back and forth. Vivid images came to my mind; Castro's mobs (turbas) attacking peaceful demonstrators during Catholic and veiled opposition rallies, with baseball bats and wood sticks, wrapped in newspapers, with the police looking the other way. I could not help but compare these mobs with the Machado's (porristas) I saw from my home's window at age six. I reflected on the futility of Cuba's quest for democracy. It was agonizing; all our expectations vanishing with Castro's imposed secret police state.

The next morning, my wife and I walked toward the Iberia jet at the Havana airport, with tears running down our cheeks and our hands holding our children's hands.

There are not words to describe the deep sorrow of walking some 30 yards of an airport tarmac, up the aircraft steel stairs, and into the plane carrying you and your family into exile.