April 1, 2011, 1:00 PM EST
"Red Heat: Conspiracy, Murder, and the Cold War in the Caribbean" (Henry
Holt), by Alex von Tunzelmann: "George W. Bush's War on Terror was not
the first time the United States declared war on an idea," writes Alex
von Tunzelmann in her latest historical narrative, "Red Heat:
Conspiracy, Murder, and the Cold War in the Caribbean." In the 1950s, it
was the perceived threat posed by communism that obsessed many U.S.
officials and empowered the Soviet Union, she writes.
The conflict between the U.S. and the Soviet Union didn't end with the
Cuban missile crisis in October 1962. It started long before and
continued long after, largely in secret.
Ultimately, the author writes, the United States' sense of security
depended on whether Caribbean leaders were pro-American. Pro-American
became synonymous with anti-communist and pro-communist meant
anti-American. The Caribbean was in crisis during the presidencies of
Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, and U.S.
foreign policy was implemented accordingly. This included supporting
right-wing dictators Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic and
Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier in Haiti, and suppressing Cuba's
left-leaning nationalist, Fidel Castro.
Von Tunzelmann writes that Castro attempted to join forces with the U.S.
government several times during the Cuban revolution, but the C.I.A.'s
secret war against him forced Castro to seek allegiance with the Soviets.
The author's editorial comments make for an interesting read, but they
sometimes get in the way of the story. She does make points that aren't
hard to agree with — like the inherent hypocrisy of the U.S. intervening
in Cuba to protect against the potential danger of communism while
ignoring human rights violations in neighboring nations.
Von Tunzelmann brings to life what it was like to be on the streets of
Havana after the Cuban rebels led by Castro successfully toppled
dictator Fulgencio Batista in late 1958.
The reader senses the dread felt by the women and children taken deep in
the forests of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where they were tortured and
killed in 1964 for being related to members of an opposition group.
Readers are also transported to Air Force One with Johnson, who had
boarded in Dallas as vice president and deplaned as president in
Washington in the hours after JFK's assassination on Nov. 22, 1963.
At points in the book, "Red Heat" is so bizarre, you may not believe
what you're reading, and at times, the story is so horrifying, you may
be brought to tears.
———
Online:
http://www.alexvontunzelmann.com/Home.html
http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=638832&affid=100055
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