Thornhill author heading to Cuba to interview Famous Five
Changing US-Cuba relations affect him professionally, personally

YorkRegion.com
Dec. 19, 2014
By Marney Beck

His Cuban mother-in-law staying at his Thornhill home was the first to tell author Keith Bolender the momentous news about the sudden thaw in Cuba-American relations.

Then came the phone calls Wednesday in quick succession from the Cuban Consul General, other diplomats and then media wanting his comments.

“It’s amazing,” said the university lecturer on Cuban political affairs and author of two books on the Cuban victims of America’s decades-long embargo.

He admits one of his first reactions was “ha, I was right”.

Since 1988 he has been travelling between the GTA and Cuba, writing and speaking about how ordinary Cubans - and especially the Famous Five, arrested as spies in the U.S. - were personally affected by Cold War trade sanctions and isolationist policies.

Voices From the Other Side: An Oral History of Terrorism Against Cuba told those stories, and Bolender was even asked to present an autographed copy in 2011 to former president Fidel Castro in person, after his brother Raul became head of the country.

His second book was Cuba Under Seige: America Policy, The Revolution and Its People.

He’s in the middle of writing his third book on Cuba, and, in fact, had planned to travel to Cuba the first two weeks of January to interview two of the free Famous Five.

Now he is working to secure interviews with all men who have been jailed so long, with life sentences, “no one in Cuba ever thought they would be freed”.

“This has changed my book completely, the last chapter will now be about how worldwide media helped move this along,” said Bolender of the simultaneous announcement by president Barack Obama and president Castro and release of American prisoner Alan Gross and three of the still-jailed Cuban Five.

Not only will the positive shockwaves ripple into his work, but improving Cuba-US relations affect Bolender personally, as well.

His wife, Magaly, is Cuban, as is her daughter. The latter is married to a Cuba, and they have a baby daughter.

The family’s happiness is mirrored by people dancing and ringing bells in the streets of Havana, where Magaly’s mother still has a home.

“This transcends politics,” said Bolender, age 58. “It’s a human story; these men were wrongly convicted; both governments are now being rational.”

Bolender admits the road ahead won’t be easy, and that there are still Americans and Cubans - including disaffected Cubans living in the GTA - who aren’t happy about the improved relations or tentative friendship between a democracy and a Communist regime.

“It’s a good first step,” said Bolender, “Obama is giving the Cubans a carrot, instead of a stick.”

“The younger generation of leaders in Cuba have already made some changes; reforms are already happening. This has changed the dynamic towards normalizing relations - the future will be fascinating.”