Fidel Castro has reigned supreme over Cuba since the overthrow of the dictator Fulgencio Batista, in 1959. The Líder Máximo has held out against every offensive and historical turning point, including the collapse of his main supporter, Soviet communism. Sworn enemy of the United States, he has even managed to turn the introduction of the dollar on the island into the ultimate tool of his perennial power. Expert in the art of transforming setbacks into victories, the leader of the barbudos has managed to throw an idealistic veil of revolution and tropical insouciance over the extreme violence of his regime.

Reviewing both Fidel Castro’s career and the history of the Cuban revolution, Jacobo Machover shows how, behind a mask that has seduced numerous thinkers, in the nostalgic atmosphere of a tropical island, a totalitarian system has been put into place whose only goal at this point is outliving its leader.