The Man Who Invented Fidel

The Man Who Invented Fidel: Castro, Cuba, and Herbert L. Matthews of The New York Times by Anthony DePalma, PublicAffairs, 2007. 

Was Fidel Castro Killed in Oriente Province?

On December 2, 1956, rebel forces, lead by Fidel Castro, landed on Las Coloradas Beach in Oriente Province. Planes of the Cuban air force bombed and strafed Castro’s forces on the beach. A United Press reporter talked with a Cuban pilot, who told him that Fidel Castro had been killed. Cuban Dictator Fulgencio Batista and the Cuban army announced that Fidel Castro had been killed.

Cuban Press

On January 15, 1957, Fulgencio Batista imposed a 45-day period of press censorship regarding rebel activities. On January 18, Matthews wrote an editorial in the New York Times complaining about the press censorship.

Sierra Maestra Mountains

Fidel Castro and and the other survivors had made their way up the Sierra Maestra mountains. Fidel Castro sent his men Javier Pazos and René Rodríguez to Havana to seek an American reporter to report that Fidel was still alive.

Ruby Phillips

Javier’s father, Felipe Pazos, knew Ruby Phillips, the New York Times correspondent in Cuba. Ruby Phillips knew that she would be deported by Batista if she interviewed Castro herself, so she asked her newspaper to send someone else.

Herbert Matthews

The New York Times sent Herbert Matthews to interview Fidel Castro. Matthews and his wife Nancie flew to Cuba, pretending to be on holiday, so Batista would not suspect them.

Interview of Fidel Castro

In February 1957, in the Sierra Maestra  Mountains, Herbert Matthews interviewed rebel leader Fidel Castro for three hours, in Spanish. Matthews even got his picture taken with Fidel Castro, proving that Castro was still alive. The newspaper published three front-page articles based on the interview. Matthews presented Castro as a romantic figure and took him at his word that he would replace Batista’s corrupt dictatorship with a democracy.

José Antonio Echeverría

Back in Havana, after meeting with Fidel, Matthews met with one of Fidel’s rivals, José Antonio Echeverría. Echeverría was head of the Student University Federation, which had more followers than Fidel Castro. Echeverría was hoping to assassinate Batista. Later, Echeverría actually made a failed assassination attempt, and was killed.

Interview Distribution

Carlos Franqui was editor-in-chief of the anti-Batista newspaper Revolución, which reprinted Matthews interview. The interview was distributed throughout Havana. Mario Llerena, head of the Committee for Cultural Freedom, flew to New York City, from where he mailed several thousand copies of Matthews’ three New York Times articles to prominent people in Havana. While in New York, Llerena met with Matthews and with CBS reporter Robert Taber.

CBS News

In April 1957, CBS News filmed an interview with Fidel Castro conducted by Robert Taber, and edited by Don Hewitt. The program, Rebels of the Sierra Maestra: The Story of Cuba’s Jungle Fighters, ran in May 1957. In 1958, The New York Times sent veteran reporter Homer Bigart to Cuba, because they felt that Matthews was not objective.

Batista Flees

On January 1, 1959, Fulgencio Batista fled Cuba, and Castro’s rebels captured Havana. Soon, Fidel Castro started executing his opponents.