Conflicting visions? Cuba in the eyes of a Soviet spy and an American diplomat

Abstract

Abstract This review essay considers the books Raúl Castro: un hombre en revolución by Nikolai S. Leonov and Our woman in Havana: a diplomat's chronicle of America's long struggle with Castro's Cuba by Vicki Huddleston. One would be hard-pressed to find more qualified observers with first-hand experience of Cuba's politics than Nikolai Leonov and Vicki Huddleston. A former chief of KGB's analytical department, Leonov held several medals and decorations, including the Ernesto Che Guevara First Degree Order of the Cuban Council of State. Huddleston, on the other hand, headed the Cuban Affairs of the State Department and in 1999 became the first woman to lead the United States' Interests Section in Havana. Both authors offer in their accounts two visions of Cuba which rather complement each other. The keen revolutionary eye of the Soviet spy leans towards temporality. He saw Cuba in East–West terms, where historically the decade-old American aggressive plans and Soviet's withdrawal pushed the island into a corner. On the other hand, the seasoned American diplomat, well versed in the complex ebb and flow between her state and its southern neighbour, sides with positivity. To her, Cuba is a ‘natural ally’ to the United States. Our woman in Havana admits there is more to the erstwhile Cold War, and with this Ambassador Huddleston's seeks to awaken the ‘better angels’ of US foreign policy towards the island nation.