Alina Fernández
| Alina Fernández Revuelta | |
|---|---|
 Alina Fernandez taken February 8, 2008 |
|
| Born | March 3, 1956 Havana, Cuba |
Alina Fernández Revuelta (born March 19, 1956) is the daughter of Fidel Castro and an outspoken critic of the Cuban communist regime. She lived under her father’s rule from when he took power in 1959 until she fled the country in 1993 with her daughter because of dissenting political views.
As an illegitimate daughter of Castro, she lived her young life with her mother, Natalia "Naty" Revuelta Clews, born in Havana in 1925 and married to Orlando Fernández, and became a model and public relations director for a Cuban fashion company, according to the University Program Board. In 1993, she fled to Spain using false papers and disguised as a Spanish tourist using a wig. From Spain, she moved to Miami.
In 1998 she wrote Castro's Daughter: An Exile's Memoir of Cuba. It describes in intimate detail her life growing up in Cuba as Castro's daughter and the changes that occurred within the country. For example, at the age of three, she remembers Mickey Mouse being replaced on the television with executions ordered by Fidel Castro.
She has a radio show called Simplemente Alina (Simply Alina) on WQBA in Miami. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the fare on her variety show is light, with guests such as painters and musicians. However, Wednesdays are a total immersion in Cuban politics.
In 1993, Elena Díaz-Verson Amos, a Cuban immigrant, and wife to John Amos (one of the founders of Aflac, INC), assisted Alina in fleeing Cuba. She lived with Mrs. Amos in Columbus, GA for several years.
[edit] Movie deal
Mankind Entertainment is producing Fernandez's coming of age life story, Castro’s Daughter.
The screenplay was co-written by Academy Award winner, Bobby Moresco (Crash); and Cuban playwright, Nilo Cruz (Anna in the Tropics)--Cruz was the first Hispanic to win the Pulitzer prize for drama in 2003.
The film is represented by WME Entertainment,in Hollywood.
[edit] Lawsuit
Fidel Castro's sister Juanita Castro filed a lawsuit in Spain against her niece Alina Fernández for libel over some passages in her autobiography that were about Juanita and Castro's parents Angel Castro and Lina Ruz. The passages make up only a tiny portion of the book. After seven years and Juanita having spent $100,000, in 2005 a Spanish court ordered Fernández and Plaza & Janes, the Barcelona Random House division that published the book, to pay $45,000 to Juanita. Juanita claimed the book defamed her family stating "People who were eating off Fidel's plate yesterday come here and want money and power, so they say whatever they want, even if it's not true... Part of my family was responsible for a lot of suffering in Cuba — you can't change that," she said. "But nobody has the right to offend Fidel's family. Insult Fidel — there's plenty to say." An English version, published under the title Castro's Daughter: An Exile's Memoir of Cuba, lacks the offending passages.[1]
[edit] References
- Havana Dreams, a Story of Cuba by Wendy Gimbel (Alfred A. Knopf, 1998) ISBN 0679430539
- Castro's Daughter, An Exile's Memoir of Cuba by Alina Fernandez (St. Martin's Press, 1997) ISBN 031219308
- 2008 interview, "Foreign Policy"
