Until now it was not possible to buy Rafael Diaz-Balart’s memoirs online. Or you could only buy the book if you were very lucky. The good news is that Cuba: Intra-history. An Unremitting Struggle (Instituto La Rosa Blanca, 2022) is now available to everyone. This is a book full of surprising angles and unforeseen treasures that young Cubans should read. Truly, this is also a very revealing biography for readers of all ages.
Rafael Diaz-Balart (1926-2005) was the Majority Leader and Majority Caucus Chairman in the House of Representatives of Cuba from 1954 to 1958. In January 1959, in New York City, he founded the first organization to fight the Castro regime, ‘The White Rose’. In Cuba: Intra-history. An Unremitting Struggle Rafael tells the story of his life through the modern history of Cuba. Both elements, the biography of the author and the history of Cuba, complement each other harmoniously, giving us an invaluable volume of knowledge.
About his father, Rafael Diaz-Balart, Congressman Lincoln Diaz Balart writes in the prologue of this indispensable book:
“His constant compass was his love for Cuba and his desire for freedom for all Cubans. But his thoughts and ideas evolved throughout his life. For example, he wrote a book on a theory he called ‘Bi-Americanism’. Years later, when I asked him why he never published it, he told me he no longer agreed with it. ‘Don’t forget Abraham Lincoln’s words’, he used to say, ‘I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday’. What’s important in life, my father would say, is to maintain proper conduct; and to do that, many times it is necessary to change attitudes, opinions and even affiliations”.
In this book, Rafael Diaz-Balart delves into a great diversity of themes, situations and historical crossroads. His vision is also reflected in the text of the draft political program of La Rosa Blanca, included in this book as an epilogue. It is a document of great value for the institutional future of Cuba.