News - 05-15-06
Press Contacts:
Bernie Reeves, Metro Magazine, 919-831-0222, reevesmedia@ncrrbiz.com
Susan Lamb, N.C. Museum of History, 919-807-7943, susan.lamb@ncmail.net
Castro and Cuba: THE INSIDE STORY
Fidel Castro. The cigar-smoking Cuban dictator is one of the best-known and most controversial world figures of recent history. Castro turns 80 on Aug. 13, setting off speculation on what will happen “after Fidel,” a subject in the news and under scrutiny by diplomats and intelligence officers worldwide. It is also a topic to be explored during the annual Raleigh International Spy Conference from Wednesday to Friday, Aug. 23 to 25, at the N.C. Museum of History. The 2006 event, titled Castro and Cuba: The Inside Story, offers a stellar lineup of former intelligence officials, scholars and commentators.
The experts will evaluate Castro’s 47-year regime, using the latest dispatches from the Castro front, and will explore what the future holds. The conference is presented by Bernie Reeves, editor and publisher of Raleigh’s Metro Magazine (www.metronc.com), and the N.C. Museum of History (ncmuseumofhistory.org).
The conference speakers will divulge new revelations from the intelligence world, from the Cuban Revolution and the Bay of Pigs to the Cuban Missile Crisis and Castro’s role as the “bridgehead” for the KGB-led Non-Aligned Movement of Third World nations, which included the deployment of Cuban troops in two dozen countries as surrogates for the Soviets. The conference will address attitudes from Cuban-American refugees and the intelligence community, delve into the culture of Cuba and estimate what will happen to Cuba’s relationship with the United States after Castro.
Speakers for the fourth annual Raleigh International Spy Conference are:
Gene Poteat – former CIA science and technology operative who participated in the Cuban Missile Crisis. He will disclose new information, including revelations from his firsthand experiences about what really happened when the United States 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 a national intelligence officer for Latin America. He is author of the recent book After Fidel: The Inside Story of Castro’s Regime and Cuba’s Next Leader. Latell is a senior research associate at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami.
Tim Naftali – author and scholar at the University of Virginia and expert on the Cuban Missile Crisis who had “unusual” access to KGB materials from the Havana residentura from 1959 to 1963. Naftali’s new book on Nikita Khrushchev, written with Russian Academy of Sciences member Aleksandr Fursenko, is due out in October 2006 and contains new information about Castro and the Soviet Union.
Don Bohning – Latin America editor for the Miami Herald from 1967 to 2000 and author of The Castro Obsession: U.S. Covert Operations Against Cuba, 1959-1965. He will discuss Castro from the Bay of Pigs onward, based on personal observation and a career covering Cuba for the Miami Herald.
Humberto Fontova – Cuban-born columnist and author who emigrated to the United States in 1961. He received his Master of Arts in history from Tulane University 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 University of North Carolina system and professor of business management at N.C. State University. An expert on leadership styles, Cuban-born Padilla will deliver a background presentation on Cuban culture and an examination of Castro’s “destructive” leadership style.
To register for this important event, access www.raleighspyconference.com or call the Spy Hotline at 919-807-7917. The conference fee is $250 per registrant. Reduced registration is $175 for seniors (55 or over) and $145 for educators, students and the intelligence community. The fee includes all six sessions, the keynote address and admission to the evening gala on Thursday, Aug. 24. Additional gala tickets are available to conference attendees for $35 per person. Hotel information is available at www.raleighspyconference.com.
Schedule of Events
Wednesday, Aug. 23
6-7 p.m.
Registration and cocktail reception
7:10-8 p.m.
Art Padilla – Cuban Culture and Castro’s “Destructive Leadership Style”
Thursday, Aug. 24
9-10:15 a.m.
Don Bohning – The Castro Obsession: U.S. Covert War Against Cuba
10:30-11:45 a.m.
Tim Naftali – Castro and Khrushchev: New Revelations of the Special Relationship
Noon-1:30 p.m.
Lunch Break
1:30-2:45 p.m.
Gene Poteat – The Cuban Missile Crisis: A Firsthand Account
3-4:30 p.m.
Humberto Fontova – Castro: Favorite Tyrant of the American Left
Friday, Aug. 25
9-10:30 a.m.
Speakers’ Panel – Castro and Cuba: Then and Now
11 a.m.
Keynote Address
Brian Latell – After Fidel: What Next for Cuba and the United States?
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The N.C. Museum of History’s hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free. The museum is part of the Division of State History Museums, Office of Archives and History, an agency of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. The department’s Web site is www.ncculture.com.