Detailed
Example
TO: JUAN CLARK
FROM: JANIS HOLMBERG
RE: CHAPTER 3
DATE: 10/5/03
FAX NUMBER: XXX-XXX-XXXX
TOTAL NO. OF PAGES: 6
Dear Juan:
As before,
italicized type indicates your original and
boldface indicates my suggested change; questions about words and
phrases appear in Roman (plain) face. As before, I have
not included minor changes such as punctuation,
capitalization, and hyphenation, where I know the
English standard and what makes for best readability.
Note: I have purposely left off footnotes because in
Word they’re electronically generated, which means that
the line at the bottom of the page would appear with the
corresponding footnote, and I don’t want to have to
adjust the formatting every time to get back to flush
left for the next point! [note to reader: Dr. Clark used
WordPerfect 5.1]
Chapter 3
p. 1, fifth paragraph:
It is
interesting how Raúl Castro, of acknowledged affiliation
with the communist line at that time, also tried to
disguise it, or deny it, when circumstances demanded
that action.
Question: disclosing or disguising?
p. 2, third paragraph:
“History Will Acquit Me”
Suggestion: Absolve rather than Acquit
p. 3, under A Messiah on Television, first paragraph, third and fourth
sentences:
That
quality enabled Castro to become the first Cuban
revolutionary leader who reached power without
significant political ties, starting from the bottom,
going through military defeats and then victories.
Fidel, as he was popularly called, projected an image of
purity and unselfishness through his very skillfully
calculated dialectics and the effectively directed
propaganda upon his person in such a way that few could
believe him capable of any wrongdoing.
That quality enabled Castro to become the first Cuban revolutionary
leader who reached power without significant political
ties, starting from the bottom, progressing from
military defeats to military victories. Fidel, as
he was popularly called, projected an image of purity
and unselfishness through his very skillfully calculated
dialectics and propaganda effectively directed toward
him in such a way that few could believe him capable
of any wrongdoing.
p. 3, under A Messiah on Television, fourth paragraph, first sentence:
In addition
to the deliberate projection of a charismatic image by
the Máximo líder, enhanced by the governmental
propaganda, it must also be mentioned the highly
emotional state coming from the grassroots levels that
surrounded this process.
The deliberate projection of a charismatic image by the Maxima lider
was enhanced by government propaganda as well as the
grass roots fervor that surrounded this process.
third sentence: question: why the quotations around “did nothing to
overthrow the Batista regime,”?
fourth sentence: question: what is the meaning of _still joined the
“bandwagon” at the time of victory [Castro’s]?
p. 4, Main Tactics to Secure Power, second paragraph, first sentence:
The potential danger in the armed forces left by Batista was gradually
dispelled by first dismissing the officers and then the
troops.
question: can you extrapolate on the danger? Were
the armed forces unstable? would they mutiny?
third paragraph, first sentence: suggest _promoted_ rather than
_prompted_
third [question in brackets] sentence:
Control of
the economy was achieved gradually, exploiting the envy
motivation. First was the attack only on the big
entrepreneurs, in this way leaving open the hope to the
small businesses that they would not be touched.
Control of the economy was achieved gradually, exploiting the envy
motivation. [whose?]
fourth sentence:
First was
the attack only on the big entrepreneurs, in this way
leaving open the hope to the small businesses that they
would not be touched.
At first only big
entrepreneurs were attacked, leaving small business
owners to hope that they would not be touched.
p. 4, Manipulation of the Civilian and Military Leadership, fourth
sentence:
question: what is meant by _revolutionary civic
leader_ ?
p. 7, sentence preceding n. 28:
Finally, in a poignant way, physician Ernesto (Che) Guevara replaced
economist Felipe Pazos as director of the National Bank.
question: what is meant by _in a poignant way_?
p. 7, The Paredón and Revolutionary Terror:
A review of the tactics used by Castro to secure power
would not be complete without mentioning revolutionary
terror. This tactic was initially implemented with the
massive application of the death penalty by firing
squad, or as it was popularly called, the paredón
(execution wall). Already during the guerrilla stage
this was applied rather liberally against those who had
committed flagrant crimes such as rape and treason. But it was also applied as a lesson for a minor fault,
showing cruelty and lack of compassion, and as a preview
of what would come later. This was the case of the
execution of a 17-year-old, only son of a poor peasant
family, who had taken a can of condensed milk and three
cigars from the backpack of a comrade. He was sentenced
to death and executed with the direct approval of
Castro, who made clear that the youth "had to be
executed to give a lesson." However, this penalty was never applied to captured army
soldiers. Something quite different began to occur soon
after the revolutionary takeover with many of the
military and police personnel from the Batista regime
who really or allegedly had committed "war crimes" or
had tortured people.
The tactic of revolutionary terror was initially
implemented with the massive application of the death
penalty by firing squad, or as it was popularly called,
the paredón (execution wall). Already during the
guerrilla stage the death penalty was applied rather
liberally against those who had committed flagrant
crimes such as rape and treason. But it was also applied as a lesson as a preview of what
would come later. For example, a 17-year-old, the only
son of a poor peasant family, had taken a can of
condensed milk and three cigars from the backpack of a
comrade. For this infraction the youth was sentenced to
death and executed with the direct approval of Castro,
who made clear that the boy "had to be executed to give
a lesson."
However, this penalty was never applied to captured army
soldiers. Something quite different [WHAT?] began to
occur soon after the revolutionary takeover with many of
the military and police personnel from the Batista
regime who actually or allegedly had committed
"war crimes" [HOW ARE YOU USING THIS PHRASE?] or had
tortured people.
P. 8, N. 35:
question: was the press the official Cuban press? Such a case could exist
anywhere.
p. 9, sentence preceding n. 37:
In several instances these executions were filmed, in one especially
macabre case showing the brains blown out of a person
who also faced death in a very valiant way.I suggest
bringing the note up into the text and including a date
for documentation:
Note 37:
In several instances these executions were filmed, such as the macabre
case of Colonel Cornelio Rojas, who was shot in the head
in 19XX. Widely filmed and photographed in such
publications and films as XX and XXX, especially grisly
images showed part of the skull gone, the brains blown
out of this Cuban officer who faced death in a valiant
way.
Instead, the majority of its leaders yielded to Castro, probably for lack
of ideological coherence and tactical or personal
convenience. Nor was there a properly structured
movement or party that could carry out the role of
effective opposition. It is because of this that only
isolated and ineffective individual action sprouted from
the traditional political leadership in opposition to
the arbitrary legal procedures and tactics progressively
adopted by the regime. This was moving towards what
appeared to be, at least, another personal dictatorship
with populist flavor. It should also be pointed out the
silence observed by the civic institutions that played a
key role in the overthrow of Batista, at a moment that a
greater danger to the country demanded a solid joint
effort to prevent it.
Along this line, Aureliano Sánchez Arango, leader of the AAA and one of
the organizers of the Congreso por la Democracia y la
Libertad that took place in Venezuela by the end of
1959, contributed to prevent a resolution of support for
the Cuban Revolution, something that angered Castro.
It was mainly the press that raised its voice nationally, trying to alert
the citizens to the perils that were approaching, and
criticizing the totalitarian measures of the regime.
This early lack of coordination and joint action from
political leaders who had a certain degree of popular
support and moral authority, in view of the evident
violation of the democratic principles, turned out to be
fatal for the development of a democratic opposition to
Castro.
It set the trend of future arbitrary actions and the elimination of
actual or potential enemies. In this case, Castro met
with pilots of the Air Force in the city of Camagüey on
his way to Havana, on January 4, shortly after Batista's
flight. There, Castro told the pilots that they had no
problems whatsoever. In spite of this, shortly
afterwards, a total of 43 among the pilots, gunners and
mechanics were charged with crimes including genocide,
asking the death penalty for the pilots.
n. 50:
When the Congress’ rules were
established it was agreed that Cuba’s case could not be
dealt with, regardless of the efforts of delegates
against this decision such as Salvador Allende. Upon
returning from Venezuela, Sánchez Arango was received
violently in the airport [describe what happened]
p. 14, sentence following n. 54
question: did the trial take place at the Santiago de Cuba Bar
Association? what city?
p. 14, sentence following n. 55:
question: the mobs tried to intimidate?
p. 14, four sentences preceding n. 57:
But among them was Pedro Luis Díaz Lanz, the Air Force
chief, who certainly had strong doubts about Castro's
intentions by this time. Neither was new evidence
brought in, nor were the accused present. It should be
noted here, also, the courageous performance of defense
lawyers Arístides D'Acosta and Carlos Peña Jústiz. The
latter, with a pro-revolutionary performance record, had
prophetic words referring to the Penal Code by which the
pilots were being tried: "You can obey the law that you
created in the Sierra, or take a sword and cut it in two
and create a Napoleon in the Caribbean." He also
denounced how the accused were already sentenced
beforehand, even to death.
But among them was Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz, the Air
Force chief who certainly had strong doubts about
Castro’s intentions by this time. No new evidence was
brought in, and the accused were not present. Defense
lawyers Aristides D’Acosta and Carlos Peña
Jústiz turned in courageous performances. Jústiz, who
had a pro-revolutionary performance record, had
prophetic words referring to the Penal Code by which the
pilots were being tried. “You can obey the law that you
created in the Sierra, or take a sword and cut it
in two and create a Napoleon in the Caribbean.” He also
denounced how the accused were already sentenced
beforehand –even to death.
sentence following n. 58 in text:
question: can you identify the testimonies that
state that Peña
was murdered?
p. 14, n. 55: Can you provide the first name of Estévez, and the date of
the interview?
p. 14, n. 57:
57This was known from a military radiogram sent by Castro from
Cojímar, in Havana, that listed the sentences. It read:
A military radiogram sent by Castro from Cojimar, in
Havana, listed the sentences:
question: Due to strong pressures [public?]
Persuasive Pen
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