Since I last posted, the novel has been completely revised
and the title has changed from Death of
the White Rose to Island of the White
Rose. Working with Barbara Phillips, the editorial director of Bridgeworks
Publishing Company, has been educational. There was not a sentence, word or
punctuation mark that she did not scrutinize, and she was an able sculptor of
the clay of my completed manuscript. Now, the project has the look and feel of
a completed book, although the publication date is still months away—August 1st.
It is being printed in both hardback and e-formats and should be available
through any bookstore or Amazon. When it becomes available, I’ll post here
about where to buy it and link to a webpage, www.islandofthewhiterose.com,
presently under construction.
Much has happened in Cuba since the last posting, and there
are some hopeful signs of change on the island of the palms. Yesterday, Raúl
Castro was sworn in as president for a final term. He announced that this will
be the end of the road for him and it is time that a new generation take over
the reigns of government. He also advocated that there be term and age limits
in the future for government officials.
The person most likely to follow Raúl as president is Miguel
Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, the highest ranking vice president. I am pleasantly
surprised that the betting is not on Raúl’s daughter, Mariela Castro Espín.
Perhaps the Castro line is at an end. Bermudez has experience with foreign investment
in tourism and his ascendancy may signal a change in the wind for socialism in
Cuba.
Another change is the implementation of the policy announced
some months ago that for the most part dispenses with the necessity of an exit
passport for Cuban citizens. As a result, Yoani Sánchez, who 13 times requested
permission to leave the country over the past few years finally was able to
depart on a three continent lecture tour. Yoani has also learned how a public
figure’s every comment will generate public indignation, if the words are not
well chosen. Last week she garnered criticism in the Cuban-American community,
when she called on the United States to free the Cuban five, the Cuban
nationals who were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage, conspiracy to
commit murder and acting as the agent of a foreign government in the United
States. She also called for the end of the US embargo and the closure of the
U.S. government’s Guantánamo naval base. The latter two points have some
support in the U.S. both inside and outside the Cuban-American communities, but
the idea of freeing felons has little traction here, to my knowledge.
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