Castro’s regime is 50. Fidel is no longer at the reins, but his brother Raúl has taken his place. For half a century, executions, arbitrary arrests, iniquitous trials and banishment have gone on in the eyes of an indifferent international community, and in an almost festive atmosphere: El Comandante defied the USA from its own backyard,” and for many countries that alone sufficed to close their eyes on his methods… In Cuba, every citizen is a potential dissident. A possible future fugitive, writes Jacobo Machover, born in Cuba and living in exile, who has gathered together accounts from Cuban dissidents, victims and their families. He gives them a voice in these pages. Balseros (the boat people), former companeros of the Revolution, outspoken intellectuals, rebellious poets, plantados (political prisoners who refused re-education through work), women dissidents and more paint a picture of Cuba as seen from Castro’s jails. They describe the reality behind the façade of palm trees and salsa. Throughout the book, we are impressed with the incredible courage, determination and inner strength of Cuba’s dissidents.