Jacobo Machover (Havana, 1954-) lives in exile in Paris since 1963. A university professor in Sorbona University in France, journalist and translator, he writes with the same fervor in both Spanish and French. He is widely published in both languages.

Ever since the Castro government took power in Cuba half a century ago, executions, arbitrary detentions, trials decided beforehand and forced exiles all took place before an indifferent international community and were a source for celebration in Cuba. Fidel Castro dared to defy the United States so all kept their eyes shut with regards to the means employed. In this book, rafters, ex-revolutionaries, intellectuals, poets, ex-prisoners and many other dissidents tell of the repression they experienced. Their stories tell of the raw realities in Cuba but also of the extraordinary inner strength of the Cuban resistance.