U.S. envoy recalls her ‘dog days’ with Castro

No more radios!
Eventually, of course, Elian was returned to Cuba.  Castro may have emerged the victor in that little battle, but he was to have another fight on his hands — in the form of my little radios.

I began distributing AM/FM/shortwave portable radios, along with the sayings of Jose Marti, the 19^th century Cuban revolutionary, at the annual Fourth of July reception at my home, in better days the residence of our ambassadors.  

After mojitos made with imported Bacardi rum, a Marine color guard ceremony and a stirring rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner,” we handed each departing guest a radio in a clear plastic bag tied with red, white and blue ribbon.

Castro didn’t pay much attention — until I began to distribute the radios around the country. I’ll always remember a woman I picked up along the road, who with tears streaming down her cheeks said, “Now I’ll have a birthday present for my son.” Castro was not amused. He threatened to sever relations.

I couldn’t back down. Cubans loved the radios. They connected them to the world, and they were free. I continued to hand them out, even increasing the distribution. 

Castro responded by calling for a “Tribuna Abierta,” or open court, to denounce my subversive activities. When I turned up along with 20,000 residents from Havana’s Miramar suburb, Castro decided not to speak. 

Cuban-Americans were delighted, but then one dissident whom I greatly respected reminded me that an important part of my job was to make sure there was a line of communication between the Cuban government and mine. I lowered my profile.

But there was to be one more showdown — over a show dog.

Dog days
I was reminded of the doggy brouhaha after I left Cuba in September of 2002.  (I would have loved to stay longer but my three-year tour was complete.)

Some months later I encountered a journalist friend who was still in Havana. She made me feel a little better when she said, “You know, Fidel is just not the same, I think he misses you. He has no one to spar with any more.”

Apart from the incidents related above, I suspected she also was referring to a certain Afghan hound called Havana — aka my diplomatic “pooch” — and the little dogfight of which he was the center.

It all started when the president of Cuba’s National Association of Afghan Hounds, Amalia Castro (no relation to Fidel), sent me a letter saying that because of my government’s unfriendly policies and my own activities on behalf of dissidents, I was expelled from the club. 

I was shocked! Surely that was just diplomatic doublespeak — the real reason was that my beautiful hound was winning too many ribbons!

The main reason, of course, was those little radios. But now that my beautiful dog was being dissed, I wasn’t about to back off with my tail between my legs. Instead, I didn’t hesitate to take a page from Castro’s book, and told the media about the “diplomat in the doghouse.”

There is nothing like a story about man’s best friend to get the public’s sympathy. TV, radio, and newspapers across the United States, Europe and Latin America wanted to know why Havana and I were on such a “short leash.”

The Dallas Morning News, commenting on the incident, wrote, “She’s the top U.S. diplomat in Cuba. But there was a time, some people joke, when her dog, a prizewinning Afghan, was getting more headlines.”

It worked. Castro finally relented, telling a visiting group of Americans that he was going to give “my husband’s dog a pardon.” The next day NBC, CBS and CNN all received telephone calls from the Cuban government informing them that Havana was back in the dog club — and it was only her owner who had been thrown out. Fidel, master media maven that he is, had put an end to a story that put his beleaguered country in an even worse light over something comparatively petty.

And for that, you have to give him some grudging admiration. In fact, I wouldn’t mind just one more chat with Fidel before he’s gone.

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