Chapter Twenty-One: “Gierek Meets the Comandante”

This is Chapter 21 of my novel, The Pope’s Secret. Virtually all the lines spoken by Mr. Castro in this chapter are direct quotes from Fidel on Religion by Brazil’s Frei Betto who personally gave me permission to use those statements verbatim.

To read previous chapters of The Pope’s Secret, just scroll down.

Chapter Seventeen: “Damiana and the Pope”

John Paul II had an “intense” friendship with a married woman for over 30 years

This is Chapter 17 of my novel The Pope, His Chamberlain, the Jinetera, and Fidel: a novel about Cuba, Prostitution and the Catholic Church. For previous chapters, just scroll down.

Chapter Fourteen: “Cuba’s Salsa Culture”

This is chapter 14 in my audio novel: The Pope, His Chamberlain, the Jinetera, and Fidel: a novel about Cuba, prostitution and the Catholic Church. For previous chapters, please scroll down.

In this chapter, note the connection between property and the defense of the revolution. “Liberation of Cuba” would mean that rich Miamians would return to “reclaim” the homes and businesses now belonging to previously propertyless ordinary Cubans. Defending those homes and businesses against Miamians (and other U.S. “entrepreneurs”) represents a major reason why the clear majority of Cubans defend the revolution. They don’t want to be turned out of the homes they now own.

Chapter 12: “The Official Story”

Cuban Farmers’ Market

Comment

This is an explanation of the Cuban system that you won’t hear in the United States.

(And please excuse the recording errors I’ve made. Reading this well is more difficult than I thought — especially while experimenting with foreign accents. I hope readers will understand. As it turns out, reading aloud also brings to the fore editorial problems that I’ll correct in the written version. Thanks in advance for your patience. And feel free to offer suggestions that will make future recordings more bearable.)