Kelley Library

The double life of Fidel Castro, my 17 years as personal bodyguard to El Líder Máximo, Juan Reinaldo Sánchez with Axel Gyldén ; translation by Catherine Spencer

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non fiction

The double life of Fidel Castro

898419061

Juan Reinaldo Sánchez with Axel Gyldén ; translation by Catherine Spencer

my 17 years as personal bodyguard to El Líder Máximo

In The Double Life of Fidel Castro, one of Castro's soldiers of 17 years breaks his silence and shares his memoir of years of service, and eventual imprisonment and torture for displeasing the notorious dictator, and his dramatic escape from Cuba. Responsible for protecting the Lider maximo for two decades, Juan Reinaldo Sánchez was party to his secret life - because everything around Castro was hidden. From the ghost town in which guerrillas from several continents were trained, to his immense personal fortune - including a huge property portfolio, a secret paradise island, and seizure of public money - as well as his relationship with his family and his nine children from five different partners. Sanchez's tell-all expose reveals countless state secrets and the many sides of the Cuban monarch: genius war leader in Nicaragua and Angola, paranoid autocrat at home, master spy, Machiavellian diplomat, and accomplice to drug traffickers. This extraordinary testimony makes us re-examine everything we thought we knew about the Cuban story and Fidel Castro Ruz.--Dust Jacket

Cayo Piedra, the Castros' paradise island -- Juan Sánchez, Fidel's bodyguard -- The Castro dynasty -- The escort: his real family -- Guerrilla fighters of the world, unite -- Nicaragua, Fidel's other revolution -- Fidel in Moscow, Sánchez in Stockholm -- Raúl's clan -- A mania for recording -- The Venezuelan obsession -- Fidel and the tin-pot tyrants -- A king's ransom -- At death's door -- Fidel, Angola, and the art of war -- The Ochoa affair -- Prison and ... Freedom!