Castro's daughter speaks out on Cuba at TCC
By GENE TRAINOR
gtrainor@star-telegram.com
HURST — The communist takeover of Cuba hit home for Alina Fernandez at
age 3 when the cartoons she was watching on television disappeared and
were replaced by "hairy people" shouting slogans.
"Mickey Mouse vanished from the screen forever," Fernandez recalled.
The estranged daughter of Cuban leader Fidel Castro said Wednesday that
her entire life has been intertwined in the revolution that she says
continues today. And she does not expect much to change after her
father's death.
Her uncle Raul Castro has taken over the government because Fidel
Castro's health has deteriorated.
"It is amazing the way totalitarianism can absolutely control the bodies
and minds of human beings," Fernandez told about 200 people gathered at
the Tarrant County College Northeast Campus student union.
Her talk, part of the college's Hispanic Heritage Month program, was
peppered with stories about the love affair between her mother and
father, her escape from Cuba and the traumatic change that occurred
after the 1959 communist takeover of Cuba.
Roger Tate, 67, of Euless, was visiting the campus and said he was
impressed by Fernandez's candor.
"It thought it was wonderful," he said.
Who is Alina Fernandez?
Fernandez was born March 19, 1956, the result of an affair between Fidel
Castro and her mother, Natalia.
But early on, she was raised by her mother and her mother's husband,
Orlando Fernandez, a cardiologist.
Orlando Fernandez fled to the United States when Alina was 4 with her
sister Natalie. Her mother, who supports the revolution to this day,
stayed behind with Alina.
Alina would eventually become a Cuban dissident and escape to Spain
disguised as a tourist in 1993 with help from Americans. Her
then-teenage daughter arrived a few weeks later in the United States,
where she was met by her mother. Alina Fernandez wrote the 1997 book
Castro's Daughter: An Exile's Memoir.
Life under Castro
Fernandez told of witnessing executions of opponents of Castro's regime
when she was a child.
Churches and stores were closed, travel and phone service to places
outside the country were restricted, and committees were established to
allow residents to spy on neighbors, she said.
"Even Christmas was considered a capitalistic celebration," Fernandez said.
When she declared that she opposed the government during the late 1980s,
she couldn't get a job.
"Things happen to you when you don't agree with the political system,"
she said. "I was afraid every night that they would come for me."
GENE TRAINOR, 817-390-7419
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