Cuba Confidential: Love and Vengeance in Miami and Havana

This meticulously-researched book makes two things abundantly clear: first, that Fidel Castro may very well be a sociopath; and second, that the leaders of the Cuban exile community in Miami are all unquestionably sociopaths.

I think the author did a wonderful job of showing how Castro always operated from a love of his country and a desire to end America's exploitation of his land and people, while at the same time not sugar-coating the fact that he has done terrible things to lots of people in order to reach his goals. She points out how his actions over the past 50 years have catapulted a tiny and little-known country into one of the world's major players. She makes clear that the American government's policies and actions have played right into Castro's rhetoric of a David and Goliath relationship.

The parts about Castro and Cuba were wonderful, but the parts about the Miami exile community were jaw-dropping. The author provides ample evidence that shows the exile leadership has created its own little fiefdom in the city of Miami, where Cubans and non-Cubans alike must conform to the exile leadership's opinions and follow its orders, lest they be blacklisted or even killed. In the case of Elian Gonzalez, the author shows how the Miami exile community would gladly sacrifice the life of a six-year-old child in order to score points against Fidel Castro. Truly, they are disgusting.