Castro's Final Hour: The Secret Story Behind the Coming Downfall of Communist Cuba - Hardcover

Reported from inside Cuba by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Andres Oppenheimer, Castro's Final Hour chronicles the dramatic events that have crippled the more-than-three-decades-old Marxist regime of Fidel Castro. From the execution of the country's most celebrated Army general in 1989 to the devastating effects of the loss of all Soviet aid, the picture Oppenheimer paints is extraordinarily detailed and engrossing, revealing a country on the brink of disaster. He uncovers Castro's never-before reported efforts to radicalize Noriega's regime in Panama, the failure of his "Zero Option" plan to restore economic stability without outside aid, and tells how, in a last ditch attempt to save the country from its dire slide, Castro's top aides pushed a plan to strip him of some of his powers. Including exclusive interviews with Soviet officials, Latin American leaders - including Daniel Ortega and Manuel Noriega - as well as the top echelon of current Cuban leadership and Fidel's dissident daughter, Alina, Castro's Final Hour is a compelling and intimate portrait of the Cuban leader, and an authoritative evaluation of what the future may hold for his country.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ANDRES OPPENHEIMER is the Latin American editor and foreign affairs columnist with "The Miami Herald," His syndicated column, The Oppenheimer Report, appears twice a week in "The Miami Herald "and in more than 40 U.S. and Latin American newspapers, including "La Nacion "of Argentina and "Reforma "of Mexico. He is a regular political
analyst with CNN en Espanol, and a frequent guest at PBS' Jim Lehrer News Hour. He also hosts his own television talk show in Spanish on current events, "Oppenheimer Presenta,"
His previous positions at "The Miami Herald "included Mexico City bureau chief, foreign correspondent, and business writer. He previously worked for five years with The Associated Press in New York, and has contributed on a free-lance basis to "The New York Times," "The Washington Post," "The New Republic," CBS News, and the BBC.
Oppenheimer is the co-winner of the 1987 Pulitzer Prize as a member of "The Miami Herald "team that uncovered the Iran-Contra scandal. He won the Inter-American Press Association Award twice (1989 and 1994); the 1997 award of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists; the 1993 Ortega y Gasset Award of Spain's daily El Pais; the 1998 Maria Moors Cabot Award of Columbia University; the 2001 King of Spain Award, given out by the Spanish news agency EFE and King Juan Carlos I of Spain; and an Overseas Press Club Award in 2002. The Ortega y Gasset and the King of Spain awards are the two most prestigious journalism awards in the Spanish-speaking world.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he studied law for four years at the University of Buenos Aires' Law School, and moved to the United States in 1976 with a fellowshipfrom the World Press Institute. After a year at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, he obtained a Master's degree in Journalism from Columbia University in New York in
1978.
Oppenheimer was selected by the Forbes Media Guide as one of the "500 most important journalists" of the United States in 1993, and by Poder magazine as one of the "100 most powerful people" in Latin America in 2002.
For more information on Andres Oppenheimer: www.AndresOppenheimer.com