Political Prisoner in Cuba

Sept ans à Cuba, 38 mois dans les prisons de Fidel Castro, by Pierre Golendorf. Paris: Editions Pierre Belfond, 1976, 320 pp.

As Cuban-American relations move toward normalization, Pierre Golendorf’s account of his experiences in Cuba and its prisons from 1967 until his expulsion in 1974 offers a sobering perspective on the “success” of the Cuban revolution. A French Communist, Golendorf moved to Cuba in 1967 to participate in what he saw as a true revolution. He sought to become part of Cuban society and to contribute to the revolution working as a photographer, teacher, and translator. In time, he became discouraged by the problems of the revolution: its huge bureaucracy, economic failures, ...