From the Horse's mouth

I am indebted to the hard working team at Penultimos Dias for this link to a small collection of memorable quotes by Fidel Castro.

A special treat, indeed.

There is the quote from May 1959 when a young and confident dictator-in-the-making told a public meeting that he was not and had never been a Communist, no matter what his enemies said.

Then there is the quote from December 1961 when the even more confident dictator said that, well, he had been a Marxist all along. In fact, he claimed, as far back as 26 July 1953.

You get the drift …

But by far my favourite quotes – probably because I can remember the context – are the ones dealing with just some of Castro’s grand schemes and delusions.

Many of these are detailed in my book, Child of the Revolution: Growing up in Castro’s Cuba, which I am sure you know by now (commercial break coming up ...) will soon be available in the US, Britain and Canada. Or you can pre-order, blah, blah, blah.

For instance, on March 2, 1964, Castro promised Cubans that in 10 years’ time, “we will produce more milk than the Dutch" and "more and better cheese than the French”. All thanks to socialism.

Less than a year later, in January 1965, he told Cubans that the Revolution had won “the great battle of the eggs”. From now on, he said, revolutionary chickens would produce an amazing 60 million eggs a month, so that all Cubans could enjoy eggs for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Cubans have been waiting for their eggs ever since. And their milk. And their cheese ...