Castro's Final Hour by Andres Oppenheimer

From the Publisher

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. From the execution of the country's most celebrated Army general in 1989 to the devastating effects of the loss of all Soviet aid, the picture Oppenheimer paints is extraordinarily detailed and engrossing, revealing a country on the brink of disaster. He uncovers Castro's never-before reported efforts to radicalize Noriega's regime in Panama, the failure of his "Zero Option" plan to restore economic stability without outside aid, and tells how, in a last ditch attempt to save the country from its dire slide, Castro's top aides pushed a plan to strip him of some of his powers. Including exclusive interviews with Soviet officials, Latin American leaders - including Daniel Ortega and Manuel Noriega - as well as the top echelon of current Cuban leadership and Fidel's dissident daughter, Alina, 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.

Publishers Weekly

Miami Herald foreign correspondent Oppenheimer presents a revelatory close-up of Cuba following the Soviet Union's withdrawal of subsidies. Photos. (Nov.)

Library Journal

This exciting, highly readable behind-the-scenes account of Castro's Cuba, based on the author's five trips to the island from 1989-91 and involving 500 interviews, explores events that led to the 1989 trial and execution of General Arnaldo Ochoa Sanchez. Oppenheimer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Miami Herald, skillfully presents this complex case as a means of assessing the larger context of the Cuban revolution, the inflexibility of its leadership, and the paranoia of Fidel and Raul Castro. In addition to demonstrating Fidel's knowledge of Cuban involvement in drug trafficking, the author illustrates how high-ranking officers in Cuba's expeditionary forces used often unsavory business deals to finance government foreign policy and military goals. Highly recommended for all collections.-- Roderic A. Camp, Latin American Ctr., Tulane Univ., New Orleans, La.

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