Dr William Rowlandson, Senior Lecturer in Hispanic Studies in the Department of Modern Languages, has written an article for the website The Conversation, following the death of Fidel Castro, published under the title (not the authors own) ‘Fidel Castro: Cuban conundrum fought for freedom but entrenched state power’.
In William’s article, his second on Cuba for The Conversation following an article on Cuban-American diplomatic relations following the election of Donald Trump, he discusses the case of Jean-Paul Sartre and his observations of the Cuban leader as they toured Cuba in the back of Castro’s car in the spring of 1960, exploring some examples of Castro’s contradictions.
William states ‘These episodes with Sartre and Castro are, to me, emblematic of tensions and contradictions at the heart of Castro’s many years’ rule of Cuba. Castro inspired revolutionary consciousness in Cubans whilst condemning such consciousness when used to criticise state authority.’
The piece has subsequently been picked up news media sites across the world, including Business Standard, Newsweek, BuzzTeller, Rawstory, Fox40 and Eyewitness News. William was also subsequently interviewed by CNN.
The full article is available to read on The Conversation website here: https://theconversation.com/fidel-castro-cuban-conundrum-fought-for-freedom-but-entrenched-state-power-69453