Next day I learned: the new detonators had been faulty. The two men had put the stuff in a car and driven toward their mission—and the plastic had gone off prematurely. Twenty pounds of C-3! Pieces of men and car were scattered across a hundred yards of street, so mangled that nothing could be identified.
Except for the Christening and my hot party, that bang would have been Enrique and me. My third miss with an appointment for death, because I was too busy making time with three lovely misses...
SUMMARY
OF THE REMAINDER
The following chapters will detail the life/death crises and complications of the protagonist, gradually filling in more of the background of the Cuban situation and clarifying the motives and philosophy of the terrorist.
Roberto Fuentes was involved in several secret missions for Cuban exiles and the United States, and twice escaped Cuba by seeking refuge in a foreign embassy. Even that was not the sanctuary some might imagine; the Castro government knew how to bring a lot of pressure to bear to get him out, even trying to remove him by force. He was the only one to receive asylum from Castro twice in different embassies, those of Mexico and Uruguay.
Several times he tried to kill Fidel Castro. One attempt was foiled by a sudden storm; another by Fidel's last-moment change of plane. He blew up a hotel Fidel was to visit, the Hilton-Havana Libre, almost catching an occupant who was later to become his wife, Grace. Another occupant was one of his best friends, counter-revolutionary leader Manolito Baro. Roberto also tried to kill two of Castro's top officers, again being balked by freak luck, such as a shotgun misfiring at point-blank range.
He was involved in the Bay of Pigs fiasco, as a leader of the Cuban underground ready to start a concurrent insurrection in Havana. He shows why that effort failed, owing to incredible mismanagement. Had he followed the fouled-up script, he would have been dead—again.
He tells how the assassination of President Kennedy stopped the next major effort to free Cuba. It is not known whether Fidel Castro had any part in the assassination—but the CIA tried to kill Castro, and Fidel was not a man to take that sort of thing lightly, and was himself an expert in such matters. Later, Bobby Kennedy was reviving part of the anti-Castro plan—when be too was killed. A grim coincidence—perhaps.
Roberto also had a varied sex life, sleeping with white, black and brown women both pro and anti-Castro. One of them was the sister of a major in Castro's escort. Another was the wife of a major in Batista's army, and another the wife of a Cuban baseball star, and still another was a beauty queen. He shows how he turned from an apolitical intellectual hedonist who cared more about his next girlfriend than who was ruling his country, into a dedicated counter-revolutionist, a fanatic man of action. The kind of man the modern terrorist elsewhere in the world is all too likely to be, who will not be stopped by repressive measures.
Roberto became one of that small minority who does the really dirty work and pays the penalty—if caught. He underwent deep psychological changes that still affect him today. His accomplices underwent similar changes; some of them remained active in America, and were among the original number whose arrest sparked the Watergate investigation that finally toppled the Nixon presidency. One of these men, Rolando Martinez, had taken Fuentes to Cuba several times on secret missions, risking his life many times. In this manner it is shown how the foreign exploits of the United States returned to make mischief in its own government.
Another way in which these U.S.-trained killer-chickens have come home to roost shown in the recent rash of killings in Miami; done by professionals, they leave no hints for the police. But the Cuban community knows. Today some of these terrorists are turning to drug traffic; they are good at that too. The drug problem will not be solved until the terrorist problem is solved.
Thus the story of Roberto Fuentes campaign to free Cuba shows the devious but enormous ramifications that have affected not only Cuba, but all Americans. Patriots of other nationalities have similar modes of operation, and hardly a day passes without news of their actions. If we do not want the assassination of one American President and the resignation-in-disgrace of another to be merely the beginning of a wave of real terrorism, it would be wise to understand the message Mr. Fuentes brings.
Piers Anthony, Amazon Slaughter and Curse of the Ninja Piers Anthony
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