Crescent-News.com - Castro's daughter visits DC

By JACK PALMER

palmer@crescent-news.com

The daughter of Fidel Castro shared her enlightening first-person account of growing up as part of Cuba's "first family" with a local audience on Wednesday, describing her father's dictatorship as both effective and convincing.

"I knew the man pretty well, for the good and the bad," Alina Fernández-Revuelta told more than 300 people at the Weaner Community Center on the campus of Defiance College.

The event was part of the Hispanic awareness celebration sponsored by the college's office of intercultural relations and Midwest Community Federal Credit Union.

Fernández-Revuelta, 53, escaped Cuba to the United States disguised as a Spanish tourist in 1993 and has been a critic of her father's policies.

"I come from a country in which the revolution is endless," she stated. "Revolution becomes a dictatorship when the state owns your life and if your try to do something, you are sent to jail."

She was a young girl when her father came to power as a result of the Cuban revolution that overthrew Fulgencio Batista in 1959.

"For me, life went from white to black -- and it stayed gray for a long, long time," said Fernández-Revuelta. "My father was very charismatic and had enormous political influence. Even Christmas was condemned as a capitalistic celebration."

She admitted he was "never a regular father," rarely coming home before 1 a.m.

"My mom was the one who ran the household, fixed the car and helped me with my homework," said Fernández-Revuelta. "Those things didn't happen at one o'clock in the morning."

Fernández-Revuelta described the turbulent life in Cuba and the challenging political environment in the 1960s and '70s.

"I saw executions at a young age. The secret police led to an incredible atmosphere where people turned in their own family members.

"As children, we were allowed to watch cartoons on television for one hour per night, but they weren't American cartoons. They were Russian silent cartoons.

"It's difficult to give an objective account and a personal one at the same time," she admitted. "How my father accomplished everything is still a mystery to me."

Fernández-Revuelta said she learned English at the age of 38 after coming to the United States.

"The main reason I came here was so my daughter would receive an education. She was born in 1977 and was 16 at that time. We escaped separately, but she joined me a few days later."

Following intestinal surgery from an undisclosed digestive illness, Castro transferred his responsibilities in 2006 to his younger brother, Raúl, the first vice president.

This past February, the National Assembly elected Raúl Castro as the president.

Fidel Castro remains first secretary of the Communist Party even though he has remained out of the public eye for two years.

"My uncle doesn't seem to be changing anything," said Fernández-Revuelta. "I believe my father is still alive. I think he is still managing things behind the scenes."