from Le Figaro, 19.02.08
by Katia Clarens
ALINA, CASTRO'S DAUGHTER: "HE WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO TALK TO"
Today Alina Fernandez is 50 years old. Right after her tenth birthday, her mother announced to her she was Fidel Castro's daughter. Nonetheless she kept the name of the man who had been her father up to then. In 1993, with a false passeport, she managed to leave Cuba. She now lives in Miami, a public oppenent to her father's regime. "When the Revolution took over, I was a child. I used to watch American cartoons on television. Overnight, the bearded men started to appear, with their guns and bead necklaces. There was one, obviously a very important man, whom everyone applauded. A few days later, I saw this man enter our living room. It was Fidel Castro. He often came to the house at night. The emergence of the bearded men changed quite a few things in my life. We were forced to leave our house, my father and my sister left Cuba and, in this manner, joined the ranks of the 'worms'. The name which one gave to those who had betrayed the Revolution. Mickey Mouse was replaced by Russian cartoons.
One day, I was ten, my mother told me I was Fidel's daughter. I was almost relieved. Because, all of a sudden, I was no longer the daughter of a 'worm' but of a hero of the Revolution. Very soon, though, I felt uncomfortable with all the propaganda which insisted the Revolution was about making living condition better all the while having to wait in line for hours for a piece of bread. One day, I must have been 14, I told Fidel I wanted to leave. He told me this would create a political problem, which I didn't understand at the time. What I did take away from the discussion was that he was impossible to talk to. I remember a particular incident: on the Cathedral plaza in Havana, we had seen artisans set up stalls. They sold trinkets which made our lives easier. One day, all were grouped and taken away to prison. I asked Fidel why he had done that and he answered: 'The State must never loose control of commerce'.
Little by little, I became more distant. One day, I must have been 18, a journalist interviewed me and I offered a few criticisms. That was the end of my relationship with Fidel, my entry into the life of a dissident. But surprisingly I was not thrown in jail. Yet my desire to leave kept getting stronger. In December 1993, armed with a false Spanish passport which friends from an association for the liberation of political prisonners had got for me, I finally managed to escape. I landed in Europe like one lands on the moon! It dawned on me that the rest of the world did not wake up every morning thinking of the courageous little island struggling against imperialism. People around me were totally indifferent to it. This was a shock to me. And then, I discoverd the magic of money and airlines that will transport you anywhere in the world... Today I live in the United States, rather well. I speak in public and do radio shows. I long thought Fidel, thinking of how he should be replaced, would make arrangements. It now seems he will not. "Après moi le Déluge!" . Fidel was certainly an important figure in an era of personnal leadership. But there is no justification for the misery endured by our country. A revolution is meant to aid civil society, not ruin it".
ALINA, CASTRO'S DAUGHTER: "HE WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO TALK TO"
Today Alina Fernandez is 50 years old. Right after her tenth birthday, her mother announced to her she was Fidel Castro's daughter. Nonetheless she kept the name of the man who had been her father up to then. In 1993, with a false passeport, she managed to leave Cuba. She now lives in Miami, a public oppenent to her father's regime. "When the Revolution took over, I was a child. I used to watch American cartoons on television. Overnight, the bearded men started to appear, with their guns and bead necklaces. There was one, obviously a very important man, whom everyone applauded. A few days later, I saw this man enter our living room. It was Fidel Castro. He often came to the house at night. The emergence of the bearded men changed quite a few things in my life. We were forced to leave our house, my father and my sister left Cuba and, in this manner, joined the ranks of the 'worms'. The name which one gave to those who had betrayed the Revolution. Mickey Mouse was replaced by Russian cartoons.
One day, I was ten, my mother told me I was Fidel's daughter. I was almost relieved. Because, all of a sudden, I was no longer the daughter of a 'worm' but of a hero of the Revolution. Very soon, though, I felt uncomfortable with all the propaganda which insisted the Revolution was about making living condition better all the while having to wait in line for hours for a piece of bread. One day, I must have been 14, I told Fidel I wanted to leave. He told me this would create a political problem, which I didn't understand at the time. What I did take away from the discussion was that he was impossible to talk to. I remember a particular incident: on the Cathedral plaza in Havana, we had seen artisans set up stalls. They sold trinkets which made our lives easier. One day, all were grouped and taken away to prison. I asked Fidel why he had done that and he answered: 'The State must never loose control of commerce'.
Little by little, I became more distant. One day, I must have been 18, a journalist interviewed me and I offered a few criticisms. That was the end of my relationship with Fidel, my entry into the life of a dissident. But surprisingly I was not thrown in jail. Yet my desire to leave kept getting stronger. In December 1993, armed with a false Spanish passport which friends from an association for the liberation of political prisonners had got for me, I finally managed to escape. I landed in Europe like one lands on the moon! It dawned on me that the rest of the world did not wake up every morning thinking of the courageous little island struggling against imperialism. People around me were totally indifferent to it. This was a shock to me. And then, I discoverd the magic of money and airlines that will transport you anywhere in the world... Today I live in the United States, rather well. I speak in public and do radio shows. I long thought Fidel, thinking of how he should be replaced, would make arrangements. It now seems he will not. "Après moi le Déluge!" . Fidel was certainly an important figure in an era of personnal leadership. But there is no justification for the misery endured by our country. A revolution is meant to aid civil society, not ruin it".
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