Franco’s Spain…or Roll the Dice on Cuba or Russia
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In our conversation, my grandfather reflected on his choice.
As it was now 1981 and Spain had just moved over to a democracy, with the direction of General Franco and the help of the Spanish king.
He felt grateful for the choice he had made in staying in Spain and especially for his family. He could not image what Spanish families must have gone through after leaving Spain in 1939 for Cuba. They watched their new homeland be taken over by another dictator and lost everything under communism. He told stories about how living under General Franco was not ideal, but it had appeared that Franco had left Spain in better condition than he found it.
Aware that Spain was a little behind compared to the rest of the world in terms of advancements; but nowhere near as far behind as he understood Castro had left his country. He had heard many stories of how bad things were in Cuba by comparison, through Spanish families he knew and was grateful for his choice.
This was my last face-to-face conversation with my grandfather, who talked about the miracles in technology he had seen: radio, the telephone, automobiles, flight, and their progress. He flew for the first time to visit us in Canada at the age of 70. In his case, although he did not live as freely as we do in America, he was very grateful for all of what he had seen.
What he was most grateful about was choosing not to move to Cuba because of what had happened under Castro.
Related articles:
What Will the Death of Castro Mean To Future US Relations?
Castro Forced Many to Live a Life In Exile- What’s Next for Cuba?
Cuba, Hispanic Capitalism And Propaganda
