Word: castros
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Havana to help alleviate tensions between the U.S. and the Castro regime, Blackford begins a series of negotiations with Che. The Commandante is a sardonic figure who sometimes talks like William F. Buckley in fatigues and beret: "Disappointing . . . is a distinctively English, meiotic expression." Wherever Oakes settles in, a pair of alluring hazel eyes cannot be far away. This time they are blinked by Catalina Urrutia, a Cuban translator, moralist and flirt. After the requisite tango, the CIA man and the beautiful bilinguist end up in the percales. Heavy breathing leads to weighty revelations, and the smitten Catalina shows Blackford...
...this thriller about Cuba at the time of the 1962 missile crisis, Buckley, the archetypal conservative, presents a Che Guevara who turns out to be a humane and tragic figure; even Fidel Castro, between bouts of egomania, is a | fully developed antagonist. The least satisfactory character, curiously, is Blackford Oakes, a CIA soloist whose IQ seems to be only a couple of digits higher than James Bond...
...Bondage fantasy, hero and bimbo attempt to defuse the situation, only to get captured, manacled and headed toward annihilation. But Dr. Castro is not Dr. No, Che is not Goldfinger, and the Cuban missile crisis was not some apocalyptic fantasy. It is to Buckley's credit that within his fiction, actual events are made as urgent and terrifying as they were in the bad old days...
Still, history through hindsight is a mug's game, and Buckley never forgets his plot or pace. If Blackford Oakes had a bit more wattage--his creator could spare some--he might be worth an additional sequel or two. As for Castro, one suspects that he is so plausible because Buckley shares many of his attributes --among them an affection for crowds. The author dedicates this book to 49 nephews and nieces and acknowledges help from 22 individuals. One of them, he says, "couldn't stand the book's title, and I think the world should know how heavily...
...favor, but Law's familiarity with Latin America both inside and outside the Church makes him a valuable asset. Fluent in Sp0anish, the Archbishop was one of five key American clergymen to tour Cuba last week. There he participated in a three hour long discussion with Fidel Castro, led the3 largest Catholic mass in that country's 25-year Marxist regime, and asked that nation's leaders to consider releasing almost 100 political prisoners...