These two publications are part of the current deluge of anti-Castro literature which is clogging book stores, library shelves, and book review sections. The main theme of both is that from the beginning the Castro Revolution has been part of the well planned Soviet conspiracy to conquer the Americas. The details of this theme are well known, and these works present them with all of the emotionalism of sensational journalism.
Richard W. Rowan concentrates on the role of Cuba as a base for Soviet activities in the hemisphere. In the process he devotes some attention to “subversive” activities in other Latin American countries. The author cites a great amount of purportedly inside information, but no sources are given for any of these claims. The major difference between these two publications is that Rowan criticizes Batista and admits the desirability of a revolution to overthrow the dictator.
The book by John Martino details the author’s experiences as a prisoner in Cuba for three years and three months. Martino devotes a considerable portion of the volume to events which were related to him by other prisoners. Some of the most interesting pieces of this hearsay testimony are those concerning the CIA and the Bay of Pigs Invasion. According to Martino, several former members of the Cuban underground believed that the CIA had either betrayed or abandoned them. The author states that the betrayal of the underground was caused by the “leftists” in the Kennedy administration who forced the CIA to work with unreliable Cuban “loftists” such as Manolo Ray. In developing this argument Martino ignores the fact that the CIA generally paid little attention to administration requests that the MRP be incorporated into the invasion scheme.
Martino’s book will especially appeal to racists in the United States since he argues that the Communists are trying to Africanize Cuba through forced miscegenation. According to Martino, the Negroes in Cuba are raping white women and spreading venereal disease with reckless abandon. In addition, the author claims that a Communist told him that the party was generally responsible for civil rights demonstrations in the United States. This specter of “Black Supremacy” reminds the historian of the propaganda campaign of the 1850’s which was also intended to stir up invasion sentiments in the United States.
In summary, neither of these works will be of much use to scholars except as examples of the propaganda literature stimulated by the current state of U.S.-Cuban relations.
