Mi Papá

[Warpy]

2. Good summary

My Cuban landlord in Boston came from a family that had a tile business--making and installing ceramic tile. They supported Castro because obviously, that bastard Batista had to go. They even supported him when the business was nationalized and the bosses made little more than the workers did. What finally drove them out of Cuba was that a shirttail relative (distant cousin) had worked for Batista and once that came out, they were pretty much shunned. Such was the love that was held for Batista in Cuba.

Even with all that, when his kids misbehaved, he'd threaten to send them to Cuba and let the Communists deal with them.

He was a funny guy and I remember him very fondly. Not all the Cubans in the US are anti Fidelistas who considered Cuba to be paradise lost. I think he missed it horribly and looked forward to a day when he could go home, no matter who was in the government. He'd be in his 80s and if he's alive, maybe he'll be able to.

ETA: I always think Castro was a smart old bugger who nationalized all those bourgeois businesses because he knew the Batista Cubans would flee with what they could carry. He'd be rid of them and with them, any threat to his regime. It seems to have worked well.