Juanita Castro's autobiography a commercial stunt in bad taste: Cuba

Havana, Nov 3 : Cuba has said the autobiography of Juanita Castro, in which she revealed her association with the CIA and her estranged relationship with her elder brothers Raul and Fidel Castro, is "a commercial venture in bad taste and of low morality".

The Cuban culture ministry made its first official reaction to the book in a magazine published Monday.

"Miami's anti-Castro industry, under the auspices of the publisher Santillana and the PRISA Group in Spain, has launched a new product on the market: the memoirs of Juanita Castro," an article in La Jiribilla magazine said.

The article titled "Memorias para el Olvido" (Memoirs to Forget) broke the official silence on last week's launch of the book.

"The fact is more shocking precisely because for more than 50 years Fidel Castro has made an effort to preserve the privacy of his family from the vicissitudes of his public activities," La Jiribilla said.

The book is "a rag created to spread statements that are frankly trivial," the article said.

It added that "if it's true that at the beginning of the 1960s the author worked for the CIA, she would be just one more among thousands of Cubans who for money or other motives, worked for the CIA and offered to serve as pawns of US policy against Cuba".

Juanita revealed her collaboration with the CIA in her memoirs "Fidel y Raul, Mis Hermanos: La Historia Secreta" ("Fidel and Raul, My Brothers: The Secret History").

The younger sister of Fidel and Raul Castro said Tuesday in an interview with EFE that it was not easy to decide between preserving her family ties and joining the CIA.

Juanita said she has not spoken with Fidel or Raul since 1963.

--IANS