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Augusto Venegas is the author of Memories from the land of the Intolerant Tyrant which recounts real life experiences in Cuba following the 1959 Revolution. Augusto was born in Cuba but fled to the U.S. with his family shortly after the Fidel Castro took control. Some of his relatives assisted Castro in the revolution thus he and his family have a great deal of insight into the inner workings of the Castro dictatorship. In addition to his book on Cuba Augusto is active in a number of social media outlets on Cuba and is not at all hesitant in voicing strong views on the subject. Here are my questions and Augustos answers: 1. I understand you were born in Cuba but left at an early age. What recollections do you have of life in Cuba? I was born in Cuba in 1952, and I remember that in 1959 my parents were supportive of the revolution, because they wanted the Pre-Batista constitutional republic restored. I was one of the people cheering the rebels as they marched thru my hometown in January of 1959. But members of my family noticed Cuba was being radically transformed, and this transformation was not what they expected- political and economic repression. In 1966 my parents decided it was time to leave utilizing the Freedom Flights started by the Johnson administration in 1965. I was 13 years old when I left Cuba, and it was easy for me to adapt to life in America. Yet, I will always have sweet memories of my hometown, family get-togethers, trips horse riding and fishing in one of my uncles farm, stick ball games with playmates, and a couple of vacations in the Varadero beach resort. I imagine that it was tougher for my middle-aged parents to be exiled from the land of their birth, leaving many family members and friends behind. But I also have memories of the daily lack of free expression, hard times getting consumer goods, imprisoned dissident relatives, and a few friends that died trying to regain freedom for Cuba. And what can you tell us of Cuba before the revolution? The Cuba before Fidel was economically well off. Most of the buildings in Cuba were built before 1959. Under Batista the main problem was the lack of political rights that were before available with the liberal constitutional republic that he overthrew in 52, when he was lagging far behind in the presidential polls. Enclosed is a short documentary from the blog of dissident friend Jorge Luis Naranjo, about Cuba before Fidel (see http://superpolitico.blogspot.com/2011/04/la-cuba-que-el-comunismo-de-castro.html ). There were strong independent unions in the Cuba before Fidel and Cuban industrial and agricultural workers were amongst the best paid in the world back in the 50's ($3-$6 per day), workers from neighboring islands coming to Cuba because of the abundance of work (http://www2.fiu.edu/~fcf/cubaprecastro21698.html ). These salaries in the 50's exceeded the slave wages of $20/month earned today in Castro's Cuba (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7449776.stm )! The problems that Cuba had in the 1950's were political because of the Batista coup in 52. The efficient production by the free enterprise system with independent unions resulted in a high standard of living in Cuba. Cubans owned 85% of private property in Cuba and foreign investment- particularly from the US- helped in the development of electric and telephone utilities. Education-wise, the

Cuba before Fidel was the Latin American country with the highest budget for education in 1958, with 23% of the total budget earmarked for this expense. It was followed by Costa Rica (20%). Today Cuba is ruled by the corrupt Castro Dynasty, which has brought political repression and economic misery to Cuba the last 53 years! I talk of the Revolution and life in Cuba in my book "Memories a from the Land of the Intolerant Tyrant" 2. Can you tell us a little more about your background? a) Worked as aerospace engineer for over 32 years at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in design & development and project management for ground systems for the Shuttle, Space Station, Atlas V, and Delta IV. b) Currently aspiring author. Published "Memories of the Land of the Intolerant Tyrant", a book about the Cuban Revolution and life in Cuba. c) Have performed volunteer work in jails, psychiatric wards, half-way houses and drug rehab centers. Working on book on addiction and recovery. 3. Could you give a brief summary of the Cuban Revolution and how Castro went about consolidating power after the Revolution? After the Batista coup that ended 50 years of the constitutional republic in 1952, Fidel formed the 26th of July Movement- where he was joined by one of my older cousins (my mother's youngest brother joined the Revolutionary Directorate- led by the deceased Jose Antonio Echeverria). During the struggle against Batista, Castro received money, weapons, and recruits (including former second in command Camilo Cienfuegosdeceased in 59) from the Cuban exile community in the US. During the summer of 1958, Castro is elected leader of all of Batista's opposition groups (e.g. 26th of July Movement, Revolutionary Directorate, Authentic Party, Orthodox Party, Labor representatives, etc.) in what is called "The Pact of Caracas." After the triumph of the Revolution in January of 1959, the first thing Fidel does to to suppress the rights of Cubans to bear arms. By mid-1960, he cancelled multi-party elections, freedom of expression, independent labor unions, etc. By then he had formed an alliance of convenience with the USSR- which became a subject of debate during the 1960 US Presidential debate, where JFK accuses the Republicans of dropping the ball in Cuba. By mid-1961, my two older kin that fought for the Revolution had both been sentenced to several years in jail Kicking out foreign business and nationalizing/socializing the remainder were a core part of the Castro regime's economic policies during his first few years in power in Cuba. The economy became stagnant under the management of the incompetent Castro's cronies- who knew nothing of how to manage Cuban businesses, including most agricultural activities outside the production of cigars and rum. Total collapse of the Cuban economy occurred after Soviet subsidies (exceeding that of the combined foreign aid by the US to Pakistan, Egypt, and Israel) at the end of the Cold War circa 1990. The Cuban economy today depends largely on tourism, cash/medicines from exiles to kin and friends, and Venezuelan oil subsidies. Today Cuba, a former food exporter in the 50's, imports 80% of its food- mainly from Brazil and the US (despite the so-called "embargo). What a disaster for a country that in the 50's had a higher standard of living than the bulk of its Latin American neighbors and a few countries in Southern Europe! I give more details of how Fidel consolidated power in Chapters 1, 4, and 5 in my book.

4. Why Don't They Rebel? The War Against the Bandits, as labeled by Fidel, was a six-year rebellion (1959 1965) in the Escambray Mountains by many of no more than 4,000 Cuban insurgents in as many as 200 small independent groups who opposed the new dictatorship led by Fidel Castro. The group of insurgents was a mix of former local farmers disowned by Castros farm collectivization, and former guerrillas who had fought alongside Castro against Batista. The insurgents launched attacks on rural garrisons, convoys, and weapons and ammo warehouses. The outnumbered anticommunist guerrillas often fought to the death. Cuban forces used sweeps by long columns of militia, which cost the government substantial losses but ultimately won the war. Castro employed overwhelming force, at times sending in as many as 250,000 government troops. The end result was the practical elimination of all insurgents by Cuban government forces by 1965... Today, the average salary for a Cuban is $20/month; most of them making ends meet in the black market, where they may spend 15-20 hours above their nominal 40-hour week serving their Castro Slave Masters. Why don't they rebel? With 55-60 hour workweeks to make ends meet and no right to bear arms- who's got the time and resources to rebel? Besides if they even tried, the Block Committees for the Defense of the Revolution and the Rapid Deployment Brigades (like Iran's Revolutionary Guard) would monitor all their movements and prevent any kind of large unauthorized assembly. In recent years, the opposition has taken the form of Gandhi-King like pacifist dissidents. 5. Most Americans are vaguely familiar with the Bay of Pigs invasion but dont really know a great deal about it. Could you give us a brief summary of what this was about? Chapter 16 of my book "Memories from the Land of the Intolerant Tyrant" is titled "Bay of Pigs: Good Guys Make Mistakes Too. The failed Bay of Pigs episode in April 17 of 1961 was the low point of JFKs Presidency. Some criticize the initial decision for providing training and some limited air support to the Cuban exile force as a political blunder. Others believe that once JFK committed the 1400 Cuban exiles to land that he made some military misjudgments- such as changing the landing site from Trinidad to Bay of Pigs, cutting down drastically the air support required for a delicate amphibious operation, and faltering in providing follow thru logistics support. By 20 April, despite successfully establishing a beach-head, the invaders surrendered as they were outnumbered about 40 to 1, the Castro regimes Air Force had established air supremacy, and the Cuban exiles were running out of ammunition. 6. Again Americans are familiar with the Cuban Missile Crisis and how JFK managed to keep Russian missiles out of Cuba. I remember at the time there was a lot of concern over a nuclear attack against the U.S. and building bomb shelters was a hot topic. Could you tell us more about what really happened during this scary standoff? On Oct 14 of 62, U-2 reconnaissance missions confirmed the presence of Soviet missile installations in Cuba. JFK was upset, as Nikita K. had lied to him more than once earlier in the year telling that the Soviet Union had no missiles in Cuba. For months, Soviet personnel (nearly all men between 20-60 years old) paraded around Cuba in civilian clothes pretending to be tourists. It was an odd sight in towns of the interior of the island,

who rarely saw any tourists before 59. During the October Crisis JFK opted for the naval blockade instead of the air strike recommended by the JCS. The blockade worked and we all lived happily ever after, except for the Cuban people that got stuck living under Fidel, which included me at that time ... Soviet General Anatoly Gribkov made a revelation in 1992 that the Soviet Union had sneaked undetected about 100 small nuclear weapons in Cuba during the crisis. This arsenal included ground-to-ground Luna rockets, with a range of 30 miles and 2-kiloton warheads, and 80 FKR cruise missiles armed with 12kiloton warheads (Hiroshima bomb was 14 kilotons) with a range of 100 miles Nikita K. originally had planned to leave this weapons in Cuba, but horrified at Fidels request during the crisis for the Soviets to launch a first strike, he ordered that all small tactical weapons be swiftly removed from Cuba (Ch. 18). 7. Tell us about the Castro regimes subversive activities during the Cold War? Fidel Castro planned a terrorist attack similar in magnitude to 911 in November of 1962, barely a few weeks after the missile crisis. The FBI caught five of Castro's agents, disguised as UN delegates, with 500 kilos of TNT and plans to blow Grand Central, Gimbel's, Bloomingdale's and Macy's in New York City during Black Friday. Castro's agents were exchanged for five alleged CIA agents in Cuba. I believe that the level headed Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev reprimanded Castro for such barbaric behavior soon after the October Missile Crisis. Most of Castro's Cuba other subversive activities in the Third World during the Cold War were limited to training and providing finance and logistics support to left-wing revolutionaries- as early as 59 in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Panama. And of course, there were Cuban troops directly involved in various conflicts in Africa during the late 70's and 80's- an intervention that ended with Soviet subsidies at the end of the Cold War. At that time Soviet leaders realized that with friends like Fidel Castro, they needed no enemies. I cover more details in Chapter 19 of my book. 8. Cuba plays a role in many JFK assassination conspiracy theories. Can you give us any insight into this? The question is not who killed JFK, but why he was killed. Author Gus Russo's answer (Live by the Sword) is that Oswald shot Kennedy because of the White House's secret war against Fidel Castro, a "secret" which was common knowledge in the city of New Orleans, from which many anti-Castro operations were based. Lee Harvey Oswald, a young communist sympathizer that had been in the Soviet Union, knew of these operations through acquaintances in New Orleans' Cuban community and decided to kill JFK to protect Castro. Russo discusses Oswald's failed attempt on General Walker's life, previous to his contact with Cuban agents in Mexico and his subsequent shooting of the President. Details of the Kennedy assassination and Oswald's escape attempt are provided, including his killing of officer Tippit. An important contribution this book makes to the discussion of the JFK killing is the photograph of the interior of Kennedy's limousine in Appendix A. It clearly shows that the seat John Connolly was on was about a foot lower than JFK's back seat. This seating arrangement validates the often dismissed "single bullet theory" -- the trajectory is obviously in line with the placement of the two men. A great read for those interested in knowing the truth about the JFK assassination. I recommend this book as a companion to a Kennedy biography (e.g. Dallek). Personally, I

prefer to honor JFK's memory by cherishing his values- such as political equality and freedom for all, compassion for the less fortunate, and level headed leadership in times of crisis. 9. Could you tell listeners about your book, Memories from the land of the Intolerant Tyrant? My book (published Nov 2010) tells of life in Cuba before the Revolution, Batistas coup in 52, the ensuing Revolution, the Castro regimes consolidation of power in 1959/60, and life in Cuba thereafter under the repressive Castro regime. It mixes a historical account of the Cuban Robb-Illusion and personal accounts of life in Cuba. I feel it is a must read for those seeking an understanding of the Cuban Revolution why and how it happened and life in Castros Cuba. The book tells a story of intrigue, deceit, and betrayal in the search for absolute power by Cubas totalitarian dictator Fidel Castro. We see the metamorphosis of Castro from a young idealistic pro-democracy liberal in the late 40s to a totalitarian Stalinist dictator after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959. It explains its failure to deliver on its promises of political freedom and economic prosperity to the average Cuban. Had I stayed in Cuba, I could not have published such a book. People found with anti-Communist literature are sent to prison for 3 years in Cuba. In 2011, Cuba had 2,400 political prisoners. 10. Your book, and other things I have read from you, paints a rather bleak picture of todays Cuba and offers statistics that support your belief. Yet when I look at official U.S. government statistics on Cuba, such as the literacy rate, average life expectancy, per capita income, etc. the picture is quit different. How can I reconcile these differences? Cubas average wage is about $20/hour (for more information, see BBC link at http://www.google.com/url? q=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7449776.stm&sa=U&ei=DO2QUdb4KY6a8wTWh4DYBQ &ved=0CBgQFjAA&sig2=ZuDBrlBqb_QrpiCkHohCBA&usg=AFQjCNF8o1fZ6hZ51E qNUDkGbeo98tc7Eg). Prostitutes, cops, waiters and cab drivers in Cuba make more money than professionals like doctors, nurses and engineers- that sometimes get a second job to supplement their income. Cuba is not a member of the IMF and the World Bank. Statistics provided by the propaganda driven Cuban regime. With a system of political apartheid for stores, education, healthcare and housing; I would expect high-ranking members of the regime to be better off. There is no upscale mobility unless you kiss up to the Castro regime. 11. Although I lack the intimate knowledge you have regarding Cuba it seems to me that the U.S. should end the embargo against trade with Cuba immediately. I dont believe the embargo hurts Castro or the government but only the Cuban people. What is your opinion on this? Embargo? Ironically, CUBA IS IMPORTING FOOD FROM THE U.S., as humorously commented in Spanish by Hugo Chavez, who we hear referring to "pollo gringo" (reference http://amanecerenlahabana.blogspot.com/2011/03/fidel-castro-y-huchochavez-comiento.html ). I share the concern that in someday soon seeing relations

between the US and Cuba improves. However, I'll say that will not happen while Fidel is calling the shots, as demonstrated by his rejection of Obama's gesture of reconciliation in 2009 ... Fidel likes the status quo of isolating himself from the US (his Big Satan), he also likes to keep the average Cuban starving for consumer goods (anything from food, education, health care, housing, computers, cell phones, and internet) and, despite of his double tongue confusing rhetoric, he does not want reconciliation with the US ... several of the last eleven US Presidents have tried and failed- Obama been the last one (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30354741/ns/world_news-americas).As a matter of fact, I know of two American citizens that ignored the so-called embargo and were jailed by the Castro regime, not the U.S.. One of them was MLB scout Juan Ignacio Hernandez Nodar (released after 13 years in prison for trying to recruit Cuban ballplayers for MLB) and more recently Alan Gross was sentenced to 15 years for bringing several PC's and cell phones to a Havana synagogue. I speculate that the so-called embargo will continue while Fidel calls the shots, behind Raul's throne. By keeping the embargo in place and placing blame on the US for all his troubles, Fidel plays the victim and draws attention away from his failures due to political repression and the mismanagement of the centrally planned Cuban economy the last 52 years- a typical ploy by a dictator. Keeping from formalizing formal relations with US, while at the same time blaming the failure of doing so on the US and the Cuban exiles is what George Orwell called double speak, a form of expression mastered by Stalin and the Castro brothers to deceive and confuse the nave! Although I'll say that it's OK for anybody to go travel to Cuba- either as a tourist or to visit kin/friends- I would advise any close friends to restrain from investing or establishing businesses there until you see native Cubans making umpteen thousand dollars there, well over the pitiful $20/month average slave wage. Recent reforms have not gone far enough. Just last summer they shut down an innovative opera restaurant business because they were making too much money, including employees making from $60 to $80/month (for more, see link at http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/cuba/120731/cuba-attackthe-bureaucrats). Also see Ch. 23 of my book. 12. Despite glowing government statistics you indicate that the medical system in Cuba is very poor for the average person. Ive read that the average life expectancy in Cuba is slightly higher that that in the U.S. Doesnt this suggest that medical care in Cuba is not that bad? Castro's system of political apartheid- depriving those not aligned with the government from access to more food, better HEALTHCARE/housing and access to a college education! Only members of the communist party (a privileged minority in Cuba) and visiting foreigners get to go to the good stores, hospitals, hotels/houses, and receive a college education. When Michael Moore went to Cuba, he was shown the hospital assigned to foreigners and communist party members, not the hospital assigned to average folks (you bring own bed sheets, pay own medicine, kill the roaches, and you are lucky to get an aspirin out of them). 13. Ive read some of your comments on the Cuban prison system. Could you explain why you feel it is one of the worst in the world?

Any discussion on contemporary Cuba would be incomplete without talking about human rights! Human Rights Watch/World Report 2012 Cuba: Cuba today is unique in Latin America in repressing "virtually all forms of political dissent". In 2011 Ral Castros government continued to enforce political conformity using short-term detentions, beatings, public acts of repudiation, forced exile, and travel restrictions. In addition to criminal prosecution, Raul Castro's government has increasingly relied on arbitrary detention to harass and intimidate individuals who exercise their fundamental rights. The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation documented 2,074 arbitrary detentions by security forces in 2010, and 2,224 between January and August 2011. The detentions are often used preemptively to prevent individuals from participating in meetings or events viewed as critical of the government. Within the last two years two of the most prominent dissident leaders have died under mysterious circumstances: Laura Pollan dies of cardiac arrest in Castro regime hospital 14 Oct 2011. Pollan founded the dissident group, Ladies in White, which holds specific protest marches with the spouses of political prisoners in Cuba. She suffered the imprisonment of her husband, acts of repudiation, the insults, the beatings, her disqualification in the government-controlled press, and constant surveillance. Witnesses claim an undercover agent injected her with a foreign substance during a protest before she was taken to hospital. Oswaldo Paya dies in car accident 22 July 2012. Family members claim that the vehicle he was in was deliberately forced off the road. Mr. Paya, a long-standing democracy activist, gained international fame as the organizer of the Varela Project, a non-violent campaign to petition the Cuban government for such fundamental rights as freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. Launched in 2002, the project's supporters collected around 25,000 signatures in what was seen as one of the most potent public demonstrations of opposition to Communism in the country's recent history. However their calls for a referendum were rejected and several activists imprisoned. Prisons are not a good place to be- particularly in third world countries with tyrannical regimes where even the citizens outside the prisons don't have much in terms of human rights. Ranking prisons in the world can be a hard thing. I was surprised to see GITMO in several listings- which many Cuban workers there thought that it was a Hilton compared to what the Castro regime has on the other side of the fence. By the way, I had two of my older kin stay there for a few years in #5 ("La Cabanna Prison") and I dedicate a chapter about their stay there in my book "Memories from the Land of the Intolerant Tyrant". Fidel Castros brutal Cabanna prison is the most inhumane in Latin America. It first got its bad reputation when Che was in charge in early 1959 and would hold "justice" thru firing squads within 24 hours of a quick kangoroo trial. There you can be arrested without warrants and may be convicted without a fair trial. When a trial is scheduled the judges verdict is decided in advance- the sentence is normally either death or X years in prison. High profile prisoners are put in cells so small they can barely sit down and cant lay down. Your food is often contaminated with worms and insects. Regular everyday criminals in Cuba are given a higher rank than political prisoners and are encouraged to beat the crap out of inmates with pipes, heavy electrical cables, and clubs- not to mention rape (Ch. 17).

14. The Castro brothers obviously have only a few more years to live. What do you expect will happen after they pass? The recent appointment of Miguel Diaz-Canel, a 52-year-old party apparatchik factotum, as first vice president of the Council of State places him in line to succeed Ral Castro in that state body. It is not often understood that Ral Castro leads Cuba not because he is president of the Council of State, but because he is first secretary of the Communist Party and Fidels brother. Under the Cuban governing succession scheme, the militarydominated Politburo would recommend Cubas next leader. Cuban history offers no tradition of military subordination to civilian rule. With Ral Castro gone, it is difficult to envision old comandantes like Ramiro Valdes and three-star generals of the Politburo obediently offering military allegiance and saluting in subordination to a civilian bureaucrat like Diaz-Canel. This comportment of unchallenged civilian command of the armed forces is not in the Cuban memes (cultural genes). When enterprises are stateowned and managed, the military-officers-turned-business-executives enjoy the privileges of an elite ruling class. Their standard of living is higher, they move into better homes, etc. But these benefits are minuscule when compared with the opportunities to gain significant wealth by owning the enterprises under their control. The military elite understands that managing government-owned enterprises offers only limited benefits owning the enterprises is far more lucrative. In the years to come, the military elite will be highly motivated to arrange a manipulated privatization of the economy in order to monetize their positions. Alas, this corrupt mockery of privatization ends with the generals and colonels as the new Cuban captains of industry. Is there any chance for better relations between the U.S. and Cuba while Castro is still alive? Nope. Medieval kings and modern dictatorial regimes alike (North Korea, Cuba, Syria, etc.) are control freaks and they are happy with not sharing power. Dictators that are obsessed with power do not give it away voluntarily out of the goodness of their hearts. 15. Do you have a webpage? A Facebook account? And most importantly: Where can readers buy your book? Face book page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Memories-from-the-Land-of-theIntolerant-Tyrant/168959919785203 Linked In page at http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.linkedin.com/groups/InDefense-Freedom-against-Dictatorships4251613&sa=U&ei=V3yQUcqvMIXo9ATawoCoBg&ved=0CBgQFjAA&sig2=94zg xNvzC71fAO_XphcuFg&usg=AFQjCNGSQavKCRUC4M465QXM301YsKmzSA Save $5 by ordering hardcopy of Memories from the Land of the Intolerant Tyrant straight from publisher at www.bluenotebooksonline.com/tyrant.html The e-book version is available at both Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Many thanks Augusto for the information about your book and about conditions in todays Cuba. I hope readers will buy your book and expecially take advantage of the $5 discount available for purchasing direct from the publisher. Of course the e-book version

from Amazon is a great value can can be downloaded on a regular PC, not just a Kindle. Anyone who really wants to know about Cuba should have and read this book!

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