Interesting article, and I have no doubt Penn’s description of the meeting is completely accurate. Starting with Raul’s comment on Fidel:
“Fidel called me moments ago,” he tells me. “He wants me to call him after we have spoken.” There is a humor in Raúl’s voice that recalls a lifetime of affectionate tolerance for his big brother’s watchful eye. “He wants to know everything we speak about,” he says with the chuckle of the wise. "
However, some parts show that Penn is not a journalist, when Raul says:
"After the Eisenhower administration bombed two vessel-loads of guns headed for Cuba, Fidel reached out to old allies. Raúl says, “We asked Italy. No! We asked Czechoslovakia. No! Nobody would give us weapons to defend ourselves because Eisenhower had put pressure on them.”
Czechoslovakia? Pressured by the US? In 1959? Really?
I do like that Penn adds:
“Having said that, I’m a proud American and infinitely aware that if I were a Cuban citizen and were to write an article such as this about the Cuban leadership, I could be jailed. Furthermore, I’m proud that the system set up by our founding fathers, while not exactly intact today, was never dependent on just one great leader per epoch. These things remain in question for the romantic heroes of Cuba and Venezuela. I consider mentioning this, and perhaps should have, but I’ve got something else on my mind.”
But I wish that he had brought up the lack of freedom of expression in Cuba, not just thought about it. As an artist I would think this would be very high on his list.
One detail that is off is this:
"Castro and I share a cup of tea. "Forty-six years ago today, at exactly this time of day, we mobilized troops, Alameda in the West, Fidel in Havana, me in Areda. "
I’m assuming Alameda is Juan Almeida, but I have no idea what area ‘Areda’ is supposed to be.
What am I gonna buy with 20 cents?!