After reading a brief description of Fidel Castro and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's relationship in our homework, I decided that I would have to dig deeper. I was not disappointed. I bet you didn't know that Castro edited many works composed by a Nobel Prize-winning author (Marquez, of course) or that he was a seafood connoiseur.
(My source was an article written by Stéphanie Panichelli-Batalla. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/fidel-castro-gabriel-garcia-marquez-a7474596.html)
Marquez and Castro might not have seen eye-to-eye on political issues, but according to author Panichelli-Batalla, their relationship flourished as a result of "their common interest in literature."
It's intriguing to me that two people who came from very different backgrounds and who had vastly different perspectives of the world could find common ground by use of literature. We've seen other evidence of the power of language throughout history; it can drive people apart or unite them.
Castro actually noticed a factual error one of Marquez's books, and from then on, Castro fact-checked many of Marquez's books before they were published (according to Marquez). Don't you wish the President of Cuba could read your English papers before you turned them in to Ms. King?
According to author Panichelli-Batalla, Marquez impacted some of Castro's political decisions. Marquez likely played a role in the freeing of prominent political prisoners Padilla, Norberto Fuentes, and Armando Valladares. That's wild!
What do you think of Castro and Marquez's unconventional friendship? It spanned four decades...
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| Best Buddies Fidel Castro (right) and Gabriel Garcia Marquez (middle) smile(?) for the camera |
