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Bacardi: The Hidden War
 
 
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Bacardi: The Hidden War [Hardcover]

Hernando Calvo Ospina (Author), Stephen Wilkinson (Translator), Alasdair Holden (Translator)
2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product Description

The Bacardí rum company is one of the most successful and recognisable brands in the world. It spends millions on marketing itself as the spirit of youth and vitality. But behind its image as a party drink lies a very different story.In this book, investigative journalist Hernando Calvo Ospina brings to light the commercial and political activities of the Bacardí empire to reveal its role in fostering the 40-year long confrontation between the United States and the revolutionary government of Cuba. Through meticulous research, Ospina reveals how directors and shareholders of the family-owned firm have aggressively worked to undermine the Castro government. He explores how they have been implicated in supporting paramilitary organisations that have carried out terrorist attacks, and reveals their links to the extreme right-wing Cuban-American Foundation that supported Ronald Reagan's Contra war in Nicaragua.Bacardí: The Hidden War explains the company's hand in promoting 'special interest' legislation against its competitor, Havana Club Rum, which is manufactured in Cuba and promoted by the European company Pernod-Ricard. Ospina reveals the implications of Bacardí's involvement in this growing dispute that threatens to create a trade war between America and Europe. Exploring the Bacardí empire's links to the CIA, as well as its inside links with the Bush administration, this fascinating account shows how multinational companies act for political as well as economic interests.

About the Author

Hernando Calvo Ospina is a Colombian investigative journalist who specialises in the anti-Castro movement. He is the author of Salsa, Havana Heat, Bronx Beat (Latin America Bureau, 1995) and co-author of The Cuban Exile Movement: Dissidents or Mercenaries? (Ocean Press, 2000). Bacardi: The Hidden War was first published in Spanish and has been translated into French, Dutch, German and Italian. He lives in Brussels.
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2.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars What about Bacardi's anti-Batista /pro-Castro history?, Dec 1 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Bacardi: The Hidden War (Paperback)
The Bacardis along with other elite Cuban families bankrolled Castro's rebel forces for years, and in the case of Bacardi provided sponsored a visit for Washington officials to demonstrate Fidel Castro's democratic credentials in 1957.

Why isn't that dark chapter mentioned in this so-called tell all book. The Bacardis have a consistent history of being anti-dictator both in the case of Batista and of Castro. I wonder how the author could leave out their support of a violent, thuggish, ex-patriate who wandered around Miami raising funds for waging unconventional warfare against Cuban nationals. But in that case the expatriate (or exile if you prefer) was Fidel Castro, and the tyrant was Fulgencio Batista.

"In the spring of 1957 Washington had sent an official fact-finding mission to the island to learn more about the rebel leader. ... The American delegation found that the rebels had appealed to a desire in many Cubans, from all classes, who were tired of the Cuban dictatorship. The tour itself had been sponsored by the owner of Bacardi rum as a way of easing American anxieties about the Castros."

From "ONE HELL OF A GAMBLE" KHRUSHCHEV, CASTRO, AND KENNEDY, 1958-1964 by Aleksandr Fursenko and Timothy Naftali

Hmmmmm....I wonder how they could miss something this big? Half truths?

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Entering a murky world, Oct 2 2002
This review is from: Bacardi: The Hidden War (Hardcover)
This book explores the murky world of the Bacardi Empire. Bacardi has had dealings with the CIA and the extreme right-wing National Cuban-American Foundation (CANF) as well as links with both political and violent attempts to overthrow the Cuban government. This began almost from the Revolution in January 1959 and has continued to the present day. As the prologue puts it, the book: "raises fundamental issues about the relationship between multinational corporations and imperialist politics, about the instrumental use by the state of private corporations to serve state-directed terrorism."

Bacardi has sought to use US laws to put a stranglehold on Cuban trade. This includes sponsoring the Helms-Burton Act that tightens the 40-year blockade. The author comments that "the text is so severe and over-arching that doubtless not even the laws and treaties imposed on African colonies by the European powers have contained such a degree of arrogance and lack of respect for a sovereign nation."

Bacardi lawyers were also heavily involved in writing the new trade laws that mean Cuban brands are no longer recognized in the US. Havana Club rum's French partner Pernod-Ricard (the major competitor to Bacardi) has convinced the European Union that such moves are an infringement of fair-trading laws.

Bacardi and others are aiming not just to remove Castro from power but establish Cuba as a colony of the US with chosen front men running the place.

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Amazon.com: 1.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Another leftist who loves Cuban Revolution with zero "hands on" experience.., Jan 9 2011
By Jorge E. Alba - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Bacardi: The Hidden War (Paperback)
When you see books like this there are two questions to be asked:

1- Is the author been paid for the excelent and resourceful comunist propaganda system ?
2- What is the motive of somebody that is smart enough to write a book and at the same time serve this kind of helping hand to a dying comunist system?

by the way, i lived 27 years of my life in "revolutionary cuba".....

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Bacardi:The Hidden War, Jun 26 2011
By Jose Lopez "Jose Lopez" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Bacardi: The Hidden War (Paperback)
Another Hit-Piece on the Cuban Exile Community(Like Cuba Confidential) people who are more pre-disposed to a Tyrant than a Democracy,and who through Manipulation and Revisionist History write books,Ocean Press which wrote a book on "The mob" in Cuba seems to be one of those pushing for the same aims as the murderous godless regime on the island,
If you want to read a "Balanced" book on the story of Bacardi both behind the scenes as well as a bit of corporate History,Read Tom Gjelten(NPR of all places.) Bacardi and The Long Fight For Cuba A Biography of a cause,2008,Viking ISBN 978-0-670-01978-6. Now if your An Anti-Cuban Zealot knock yourself out reading this and other e x c r e m e n t.

10 of 20 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Entering a murky world, Oct 2 2002
By Mr. Patrick A. Harrington "doublethink" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Bacardi: The Hidden War (Hardcover)
This book explores the murky world of the Bacardi Empire. Bacardi has had dealings with the CIA and the extreme right-wing National Cuban-American Foundation (CANF) as well as links with both political and violent attempts to overthrow the Cuban government. This began almost from the Revolution in January 1959 and has continued to the present day. As the prologue puts it, the book: "raises fundamental issues about the relationship between multinational corporations and imperialist politics, about the instrumental use by the state of private corporations to serve state-directed terrorism."

Bacardi has sought to use US laws to put a stranglehold on Cuban trade. This includes sponsoring the Helms-Burton Act that tightens the 40-year blockade. The author comments that "the text is so severe and over-arching that doubtless not even the laws and treaties imposed on African colonies by the European powers have contained such a degree of arrogance and lack of respect for a sovereign nation."

Bacardi lawyers were also heavily involved in writing the new trade laws that mean Cuban brands are no longer recognized in the US. Havana Club rum's French partner Pernod-Ricard (the major competitor to Bacardi) has convinced the European Union that such moves are an infringement of fair-trading laws.

Bacardi and others are aiming not just to remove Castro from power but establish Cuba as a colony of the US with chosen front men running the place.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 4 reviews  1.8 out of 5 stars 
 
 
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