The Sleepwalkers' Ballad: Memories of the Revolution Cuba 1952-1962

By Yolanda Ortal-Miranda

This story of love, idealism, courage and betrayals takes place against the turmoil of the end of Batistas government and first three years of Castros. Besides the real-life characters of Batista, Castro and Che Guevara, the Revolution itself is an important character, making this work both a screenplay and a presentation of documented historical facts.

Riveting parts of this story include the attack on the Presidential Palace; the guerrilla presence in La Sierra; Castros victory; the Agrarian, Monetary, and Housing Reforms; the government takeover of all banks and private businesses; the emergence of a strong underground movement; and the Bay of Pigs Invasion, with the often glossed-over involvement of President Kennedy.

Much of the story is presented through unbiased dialogue and dramatizations of actual events. Two real-life characters, Echeverra and Manoln Guillotwho became significant figures in Cuban historyexemplify the struggle for freedom and justice against both regimes.

Parallel to the socio-political drama is the development of the love story between the two protagonists, Mara and Alfredo. Alfredo believes in Castros promises of a just Revolution and joins Castro in La Sierra, rising to the rank of Comandante. Disenchanted as he witnesses Castros dictatorial behavior once in power, e.g., appointing himself Prime Minister, removing President Urrutia from office, and betraying the promises of a just Agrarian Reform, Alfredo and Mara once again join an underground movement, now against Castro, with Manoln Guillot functioning as Chief of Intelligence of the MRR, the strongest anti-Castro movement in the Island.

After the failure of the invasion, Alfredo makes an unsuccessful attempt on Castros life. Immediately imprisoned, Alfredo is submitted to endless tortures and humiliations, but he never reveals the identity of Carlos (one of the noms de guerre of Manoln Guillot).

At the end, a fascinating confrontation between the tyrant, Fidel Castro, and the idealistic Alfredo, reveals the strengths and flaws of two very different human beings.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Nov 24, 2008
• ISBN: 9781466989160

Yolanda Ortal-Miranda

Yolanda Ortal Miranda was born in Encrucijada, Las Villas, Cuba. She has a Doctorate in Philosophy and Letters from the University of Havana. She is a Professor Emeritus of the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York, having fully enjoyed her career there as a professor of Spanish and Latin American Literature. She was Chair of the Foreign Languages Department until she retired in order to dedicate more time to writing. She founded CafÌ© Teatro, where she directed Lorca‰*ªs three tragedies, her own one-act version of Balada SonÌÁmbula, and Un punto que se pierde en la distancia, a finalist in Letras de Oro. Her novel, En Noches sin Luna, won first prize in the literary contest sponsored by the Association of Critics and Commentators of the Arts, Miami, Florida. Her poetry and short stories, in Spanish, have appeared in national and international magazines and anthologies. Her essay, ‰*ÏThe Element of Time in Three Novels by Alejo Carpentier,‰** was awarded second prize by CEPI (New York). Her collection of poems, ‰*ÏPisadas en El Tiempo, La Angustia y La Esperanza,‰** was a finalist in the literary contests of the City of Barcelona, Spain, and CEPI, in New York. Her passion for travelling has brought her to South America, Mexico, Europe and China. She loves nature, whether it be the YumurÌ* and Vi̱ales Valleys or the forest of Soroa in Cuba; the majestic Grand Canyon, the West Coast and Alaska in the United States, the Norwegian fiords, or Guilin and the Li river in China.

Book preview

THE SLEEPWALKER’S BALLAD

MEMORIES OF THE REVOLUTION

Cuba 1952-1962

English Translation

by

Yolanda Ortal-Miranda

and

Denise Smith

A moving story of love, political intrigues, and Machiavellian betrayals against the backdrop of fascinating and riveting historical events and characters.

Yolanda Ortal-Miranda

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Edited by Keehna J. Sture

Cover Design/ Artwork by: Mariano Rodríguez Tormo

2nd Edition, revised and expanded

© Copyright 2008 Yolanda Ortal-Miranda.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

Note for Librarians: A cataloguing record for this book is available from Library and Archives Canada at www.collectionscanada.ca/amicus/index-e.html

isbn: 978-1-4251-4328-2

isbn: 978-1-4669-8916-0 (ebook)

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Contents

In Celebration of THE SLEEPWALKERS’ BALLAD

Dedication

PROLOGUE

THE SLEEPWALKERS’ BALLAD

EPILOGUE

Author’s Note

The heroic men of a just struggle

SOURCES FOR CORROBORATION OF HISTORICAL FACTS

COMMENTARIES

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

In Celebration of

THE SLEEPWALKERS’ BALLAD

The Sleepwalkers’ Ballad is more than a traditional narrative, more than a collection of brief stories, and more than a manual of history in the academic style. It is a living portrayal of facts erupting into the political and artistic arenas, enriched by the fusion of elements of history and fictional dramatizations of actual events that come to life through the plot of the story and the experiences of the writer.

The author does not use rhetorical arguments, but tells the story through the lives and confrontations that face the human beings who are her characters, whose essence she conveys, allowing us, the readers, to see them living and acting in their environments, using their actions and dialogue as the means to show their personas, ideas, and feelings. Hence, readers can empathize and identify with the characters instead of remaining outside of the story as distant spectators.

The striking use of dialogue by the author, coupled with her experiences as a member of the clandestine Movement, MRR, during the period portrayed in this book, give strength to the plot and emphasize the realistic elements that permeate the story. This work, which takes place against the backdrop of historic events in Cuba, has an unusually dramatic impact, which is evident from the very first scene. This is a book that presents us with human beings driven by their passions, flaws, virtues, capacity for acts of courage, immense love, strong convictions, integrity or lack thereof, weaknesses, strengths, and willingness to sacrifice themselves for their ideals. By the use of very direct and dynamic dialogue, the author skillfully maintains the interest of the reader and constantly moves the script forward.

The Sleepwalkers’ Ballad is a book as personal as a book can be, and as indispensable as others should be, serving as a testament to our past, and a bridge to our future.

—José Duarte Oropesa

José Duarte Oropesa, historian, is the author of several books, including Historiología Cubana, Volumes I-V. He was a combatant against both Batista and Castro. He served in the United States Army during World War II and the Korean War.

Image6136.JPG

El Torreón, one of the fortifying towers in the wall that surrounded Havana to protect the city from British pirates during the XVII and XVIII centuries

Dedication

To the memory of Manolín Guillot Castellano, Chief Coordinator of Intelligence for the Movimiento de Recuperación Revolucionaria (MRR), the largest and most powerful clandestine movement in Cuba. He also held the same position for the Frente Revolucionario Democrático (FRD). After the Bay of Pigs invasion, Manolín served as National Chief of the MRR, a position that he occupied until he was executed in La Cabaña on August 30, 1962, after three months of imprisonment and torture. He was 26 years old.

To the heroic men and women of the various underground movements between 1959 and 1962 who risked their lives and suffered imprisonment or death because of their dedication to establishing a democratic government in Cuba.

To the courageous members of Brigade 2506, who, having been abandoned by President John F. Kennedy and his administration, fought valiantly in Cuban territory under José Pérez San Roman and Erneido Oliva, First and Second Military Chiefs of the Brigade, during the Bay of Pigs Invasion. They continued the battle until they ran out of ammunition and were overwhelmed by Castro’s powerful Army and Air Force.

To the American pilots, Riley Shamburger, Wade Gray, Thomas W. Ray, Leo Baker, Hall McGee, Don Gordon, Doug Price and Connie Seigrith, who, disobeying President Kennedy’s orders to not directly engage in the battle, volunteered to join the fight, flying side by side with the abandoned Cuban men of Brigade 2506 on April 19, 1961. Shamburger, Gray, Ray, and Baker died like heroes of another era because of their strong sense of duty and moral rectitude. McGee, Gordon, Price and Seigrith fought just as courageously, but somehow survived. The eight of them have a special place in our hearts.

To the devoted and courageous pilots of Brigade 2506, who confronted death every time they flew antiquated, slow B-26s, to engage in battle against Castro’s modern, fast, powerfully equipped, Sea Furies and T-33s. The names of the ten pilots and navigators who died in combat are: Crispin García Fernández, Raúl Vianello Alacán, Lorenzo Pérez Lorenzo, Juan González Romero, José A. Crespo Grasso, Eddy González, Daniel Fernández Mon, Osvaldo Piedra, Gastón Pérez Rangel, and José Fernández Rangel.

To the thousands of political prisoners in Castro’s dungeons, living in sub-human conditions, tortured, degraded, and lacking medical attention and legal representation; and to the valiant dissidents inside Cuba today, who suffer imprisonment and persecution.

To my very dear parents, Casimiro and América, who nourished my soul and planted in my heart a deep respect for life and the rights of every human being. They were the inspiration for the characters of Ignacio and Teresa in The Sleepwalkers’ Ballad.

To my beloved brother, Pepe, who dreamed, in vain, to return to a free Cuba.

Lastly, but not least, to my aunts and uncles of the Ortal and Miranda families, who also are a part of the roots that I treasure.

PROLOGUE

The creative works of Cuban literature in exile, regardless of their genre, share an almost invariable common denominator: an intense testimonial element, a genuine trace of the commitment to the struggle for freedom that the authors not only do not suppress, but invariably utilize in their creative works as a weapon of war and an instrument of denunciation against the oppressor and against the system that supports the oppressor in power. After all, it was this oppression that caused them to leave their country.

Although we sometimes have to recognize that a writer’s ideology may unintentionally detract from the aesthetic value of his or her work, that recognition does not diminish the value of the work as a heroic exercise, portraying and testifying to the bond that the exiled writer has with the country of his or her birth.

To establish this as a fact, it is enough to review the literary works of the Cuban exile community during the last decades, with particular note being taken of the genre of poetry, although the same can be said of narrative works, whether in short stories, novels or dramas.

That is why it should not surprise us that in this work of Professor Yolanda Ortal-Miranda, The Sleepwalkers’ Ballad, conceived and structured in a genre to which we are less accustomed—a screenplay—also contains within it the elements of protest, testimony and denunciation against the Castro Revolution and its disastrous impact on the Cuban people.

In the specific case of this author, this characteristic element of testimonial condemnation is not surprising. Even to this day, I remember the verses of one of her poems published in the magazine, Norte, in Holland, in 1971, in which she expressed her obsession with this matter:

"Y voy quebrándome la garganta al viento

en un intento inútil de protesta;

y no entiendo este sino sin lógica ni ritmo,

este abismo, esta angustia, este yermo,

esta fuga de hojas de otoño que se pierden

en el vacío y no regresan."

The words quebrándome la garganta al viento/ en un intento inútil de protesta, can be loosely translated as, as I go on, my voice is torn in a useless attempt of protest… We see that, even then—37 years ago—the author was expressing her frustration, anguish, and heartfelt need to depict in her poem the true human tragedy that had befallen the Cuban people, in all of its horrific dimensions.

The creative work that occupies us now is not the first one from the author on this topic, as the above quotation illustrates. Professor Ortal-Miranda, over the years, has produced ample and noteworthy literary works in several genres. She previously wrote a one-act play on the same theme—the original version of what we are now reading—which was staged on a college campus and was well received by the Hispanic audience that attended the production. Although it reached a small public, it planted in the author’s mind the desire to expand it, in order to clarify and correct for a larger audience, and at a deeper level, the twisted interpretation firmly held by many outside of Cuba concerning the Cuban reality: the undeniable lack of freedom and continuous violation of human rights that have existed right from the very beginning of the Revolution.

Unquestionably, Yolanda Ortal-Miranda is well aware of the impact that a strong drama delivers. Like a magnet, a riveting play draws the audience intimately close to the characters and the situations in which they live. The author’s hope is that this work will have a stronger and wider impact once it is taken to the screen, which seems to me to be its natural nesting place.

It is logical then, that in order to tell the story, the author, instead of using the narrative genre of a novel, would decide to express her message in this literary script, which, while being available as a book, could also be subsequently presented on the screen or the stage in order to realize its final and larger potential. After all, as it has been said, a script is a written text, conceived from the start to be transformed in images.

Yolanda Ortal-Miranda has accomplished exactly that with The Sleepwalkers’ Ballad. The reader can visualize, to perfection, the scenes