Award winning Canadian journalist Stephen Kimber planned to write a novel based on a love story in Cuba, but then came across “the truth-is-stranger-but-way more-interesting story of the Cuban Five.” Told convincingly that unless this case is resolved, any hopes that Barack Obama would move to improve relations with Cuba were a pipe dream, Kimber decided to delve into this case. He not only found a case in which some 11 Nobel prize recipients have called for the release of the Five, but a tale of intrigue which directly involves Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez, as an intermediary between his friend Fidel Castro and his admirer Bill Clinton, in a triangle of failed opportunities and even betrayal.
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The result is Kimber’s latest book, “What Lies Across the Water,” which reads like a novel but is also the most definitive work to date on the case of the Cuban Five. Read the full review by Atty. Art Heitzer, here:
http://www.peaceactionwi.org/kimber-cuban-five/
This is a story that not only must be told and heard, but the injustice must be corrected. On the fifth of each month, supporters are urged to contact the White House. For more information, visit www.thecuban5.org,www.freethefive.org and www.wicuba.org.
Hear Kimber Speak on TV, or online
MATA Community Media recorded his recent talk at UWM, which is online & also now being streamed online. To watch on-line, anytime, click on:
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Read Washington Post Article By Kimber & Followup Response to a Cuban Exile Lobbyist’s Blog
Buy Kimber’s book from us at a discount!
We have a limited number of copies of Stephen Kimber’s book, A Story that Must Be Told, at the discounted price of $25, postpaid. Please call or send a check with your address to
Wis. Coalition to Normalize Relations with Cuba,
c/o Law Office of Arthur Heitzer
633 W. Wisconsin Ave., Suite 1410, Milwaukee, WI 53203 USA
414-273-1040, ex. 12; fax 414-273-4859
50 Years Later: Docts. Reveal Kennedy’s Record & Planned Reconciliation with Cuba
— A review by Atty. Art Heitzer, Chair, Natl. Lawyers Guild Cuba Subcommittee
As you will see documented below, in the months prior to the assassination of President Kennedy 50 years ago, he and Fidel Castro were pursuing secret talks aimed at possible normalization of relations. They were mutually interested in this, but the CIA was aware of JFK’s inclination, and was adamantly opposed to any such attempts. An emissary from JFK was in fact meeting with Fidel Castro when word was received that Kennedy had been shot, and under the new president it was decided not to continue such efforts (along with widespread speculation in the U.S. that Castro was behind Kennedy’s assassination, presumably in response to U.S. attempts to kill Castro.)
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Any fair assessment of JFK’s record on Cuba, must include reference to Operation Mongoose, under which Robert Kennedy and others oversaw a concerted campaign of terrorism and assassination against the Cuban Revolution. You can read the major developments in Jane Franklin’s invaluable chronology, free of charge, by visiting her website, http://www.janefranklin.info or clicking on: Download CUBA AND THE UNITED STATES: A CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY, especially from Nov. 1961 to the end of 1963.
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Despite that documented record of violence, the primary sources compiled by the National Security Archives also show that
Kennedy and Castro were pursuing talks to explore normalizing relations, in the six months up to and including when the word of Kennedy’s death was received [see
http://www.newrepublic.com/node/115632/print]. This hopeful initiative was thus extinguished as a result (see Dec. 23, 1963 entry in Jane Franklin’s Chronology), leaving us where we are 50 years later.
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s November 21, 2013 article in Rolling Stone, “John F. Kennedy’s Vision of Peace,”
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/john-f-kennedys-vision-of-peace-20131120, is a revealing expose’ about the CIA’s and military pressures on JFK to unleash “the dogs of war” in Laos and Vietnam as well as Cuba, and on the CIA leadership’s contempt for JFK and his inclination to pursue diplomatic compromises. RFK, Jr. says this included the real fear of a coup against JFK because of his unwillingness to pursue aggressive military actions. In the view of this writed, this piece is useful despite being somewhat selective and overly praiseworthy of JFK’s missions for peace, and relying on Cold War characterizations of those around Kruschev (in an apparent attempt to present a “balanced” picture) that Kruschev, as well as JFK, was surrounded by advisers who were in favor of starting WWIII in order to destroy their superpower adversary. This ignores the overwhelming reality that the Soviet Union had just lost 27 million people in WWII and had no constituency to repeat such a sacrifice or worse against a much richer and technologically advanced adversary — which was sadly in stark contrast to the mentality that RFK, Jr. documents did exist in U.S. power circles.
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RFK, Jr.’s essay should be viewed In light of the perspectives of Jim Douglas in his book,
JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters, and of Oliver Stone (in his movie “JFK,” but also see his recent interview on Democracy Now! [at
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/11/5/oliver_stone_on_50th_anniversary_of], announcing the release in DVD of his 10 part Showtime series on
The Untold History of the United States, as well as the companion book). Douglas and Stone believe in the promise that JFK would have ended or at least severely toned down the arms race, the cold war, and reversed the escalating Vietnam War.
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Comments are always welcome. –Art Heitzer
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