News - 03-31-06

Secrets of State

Raleigh Spy Conference 2006

CASTRO AND CUBA: THE INSIDE STORY

Visible on the geo-political horizon looms the bearded figure of Fidel Castro, one of the best-known and most-controversial world leaders of the last century. The communist dictator of one of the only two surviving communist regimes, the old Revolutionary turns 80 August 13, 2006.

What happens “after Fidel” is under scrutiny by diplomats and intelligence officers worldwide. It is also one of the themes of the fourth annual Raleigh International Spy Conference: Castro and Cuba: The Inside Story, scheduled for August 23-25 at the North Carolina Museum of History:

From the revolution and takeover of Cuba in 1959; through his sudden partnership with the Soviets; the ill-fated US Bay of Pigs invasion; the Cuban Missile Crisis – considered the most dangerous incident of the Cold War; into Castro’s leadership of the KGB-designed “Non-aligned Movement” of Third World nations - which included the deployment of Cuban troops in two dozen countries as surrogates for the Soviets, Castro’s regime, 90 miles from the shores of the US, and his peculiar political style and personality, have roiled at the center of hemispheric and global politics for 45 years.

Coming to Raleigh to bring an evaluation of Castro’s regime using the latest dispatches from the Castro front, and sessions on what the future holds “after Fidel”, is a stellar line -up of hands-on intelligence figures, Castro scholars and commentators:

Gene Poteat, who participated in the Missile Crisis and worked in the CIA’s Directorate of Science and Technology and the National Reconnaissance office, will divulge new information, including revelations from first-hand experience about what really happened when the US and the Soviets came close to nuclear war in Cuban waters. Poteat, retired from the CIA, is currently president of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers.
Brian Latell, Castro expert and former CIA officer who served as National Intelligence officer for Latin America and the author of the recent book, After Fidel: the Inside Story of Castro’s Regime and Cuba’s Next Leader. Latell is currently Senior Research Associate, Institute for Cuban & Cuban American Studies, University of Miami.
Tim Naftali, author and scholar at the University of Virginia and expert on the Missile Crisis who had "unusual" access to KGB materials from the Havana residentura from 1959-1963. Naftali's new book on Khruschev, written with Russian Academy of Sciences member Aleksandr Fursenko, is due out in October 2006 and contains new information about Castro and the USSR.
Don Bohning, Latin American editor for the Miami Herald from 1967 to 2000 and author of The Castro Obsession: US Covert Operations Against Cuba, 1959-1965, who will discuss Castro from the Bay of Pigs onward from personal observation and a career covering Cuba for the Miami Herald.
Humberto Fontova, columnist and author born in Cuba who emigrated to the US in 1961, received his MA in History from Tulane and writes books and articles about Castro’s influence on the American Left. He is author of Fidel: Hollywood’s Favorite Tyrant.
Art Padilla, former vice-president of the UNC system and professor of management at NCSU, is an expert on leadership styles. Padilla, Cuban-born, will deliver a background presentation on Cuban culture and an examination of Castro’s “destructive” leadership style.