Daughter Of Fidel Castro Tells Story Of Life Under Dictator's Regime
AUBURN HILLS (WWJ) - She escaped the oppressive regime in her home country in 1993 disguised as a Spanish tourist. Today, the daughter of the man who led Cuba for decades visited Oakland County.
WWJ Newsradio 950's Pat Sweeting reports that Cuban dissident Alina Fernandez spoke before a standing room only crowd at the Oakland County Community College - Auburn Hills campus recounting changes that occurred in her home country under the rule of Fidel Castro.
As personal freedoms disappeared, priests and nuns were sent to Spain, intellectuals were threatened, gays were sent to military camps; everyone was watched, stated Fernandez. Getting married was only allowed by special permission under the Castro regime.
Fernandez, who grew up believing she was the daughter of a physician, learned at age 10 that the man she had known as the night visitor, because he only stopped by her house late at night, was her real father - Fidel Castro.
In 1989, Fernandez joined a dissident group and four years later, after the fall of the Soviet Union led to a worsening of conditions in Cuba, she became concerned that the threat of schools being shut down would mean that her daughter would not be able to get an education and fled to the United States.
She tells her story in the book "Castro's Daughter: An Exile's Memoir of Cuba."
