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David E. Hoffman

Give Me Liberty: The True Story of Oswaldo Payá and his Daring Quest for a Free Cuba Paperback – June 20 2023

by David E. Hoffman (Author)

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From the Pulitzer Prize–winning Washington Post reporter David E. Hoffman comes the riveting biography of Oswaldo Payá, a dissident who dared to defy Fidel Castro, inspiring thousands of Cubans to fight for democracy.

Oswaldo Payá was seven years old when Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba, promising to create a “free, democratic, and just Cuba.” But Castro instead created an authoritarian regime with little tolerance of free speech or thought. His secret police were trained to crush dissent by East Germany’s ruthless Stasi.

Throughout Cuba’s 20th century history, the dream of democracy was often just within reach, only to be dashed by dictatorship and revived again by a new generation. Payá inherited this dream and it became his life’s work. As a teenager in Communist Cuba, he led a protest against the Soviet-led shattering of the Prague Spring. Before long, he was sent to Castro’s forced labor camps. Payá later became a leading voice of opposition and formed a pro-democracy movement. A devoted Catholic, he championed a simple, bedrock belief that rights are bestowed by God, and not the state. Every day, he witnessed these rights trampled in Cuba. He could not stay silent.

Payá’s most daring challenge to the Cuban government was the Varela Project, a one-page citizen petition demanding free speech, a free press, freedom of association, freedom of belief, private enterprise, free elections, and freedom for political prisoners. More than 35,000 people signed the Varela Project, an extraordinary outpouring of protest—with nothing more than pen and paper—against Castro’s decades of despotism. The regime responded by ignoring the petition, arresting dozens of Payá’s followers, and sending them to prison for many years. After receiving multiple death threats, Payá was killed in a suspicious car wreck on a remote country road.

Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter David E. Hoffman returns with an epic portrait of a lone individual who had the courage, faith, and persistence to struggle for democracy against an unforgiving dictator. At its heart, Give Me Liberty is a sweeping account of one country’s tragic and continuing struggle for its freedom.

Print length

544 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Simon & Schuster
Publication date

June 20 2023
Dimensions

15.24 x 3.45 x 22.86 cm
ISBN-10

1982191201
ISBN-13

978-1982191207
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Review

"This is a splendid book, recounting the tragedy of a Cuban, Oswaldo Payá, who dared to oppose Fidel Castro in communist Cuba, and paid dearly for it. Hoffman's research is magnificent and his biography reads like a great novel." — Mario Vargas Llosa, Winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature

“David Hoffman has written a penetrating account of Cuban history, highlighting the true nature of the Castro regime and the courage of one man who became a threat to it. Through this extraordinary book, the world can now learn the story of Oswaldo Payá and understand why my friend Vaclav Havel nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize.” — Madeleine K. Albright, United States Secretary of State, 1997-2001

“With his signature flair for joining white-knuckle narrative to meticulous journalism, Hoffman brings us a ground-breaking biography. Hoffman's portrait of Payá offers a sweeping panorama of Castro's Cuba, from its glimmers of promise to its devastating plunge into authoritarianism.” — Marie Arana, author, Bolívar: American Liberator and Silver, Sword, and Stone: Three Crucibles in the Latin American Story

“A pioneering achievement. With seductive and precise prose, Hoffman reveals not only the extent of Payá's personal sacrifice in the struggle for change, but he resurrects the forgotten, traumatic history of Cuban society. Give me Liberty is a gift to all Cubans everywhere.” — Lillian Guerra, Professor of Cuban and Caribbean History, University of Florida, and author of Visions of Power in Cuba: Revolution, Redemption, and Resistance, 1959-1971

“An exhaustively researched and beautifully written exploration of a hero who gave his life to the cause of freedom. A riveting account of courage and perseverance against seemingly insurmountable odds.” — Kenneth Wollack, Chairman, National Endowment for Democracy and former President, National Democratic Institute

“Cuba will one day be free, and when that happens the name of Payá will be remembered for having helped pave the way to democracy... Hoffman's masterful work reminds us that as long as there are those who refuse to give up the demand for fundamental freedoms, there is still hope in even the most repressive of places.” — Michael Abramowitz, President of Freedom House

"Engrossing...an intriguing and often inspiring look at the courage of one man’s convictions."— Publishers Weekly

"Not all resistance to the Castro regime has been offshored to Miami, as this finely detailed study of one of its leading figures demonstrates... A welcome study of political resistance by figures unknown to most readers outside Cuba." — Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

David E. Hoffman is a contributing editor and member of the editorial board of The Washington Post. He was previously assistant managing editor, foreign editor, Jerusalem correspondent, Moscow bureau chief, and White House correspondent for the newspaper. He is the author of The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy, which won the Pulitzer Prize, The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal, a New York Times bestseller, and The Oligarchs: Wealth and Power in the New Russia. He lives with his wife in Maryland.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster (June 20 2023)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 544 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1982191201
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1982191207
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 435 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.24 x 3.45 x 22.86 cm

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David E. Hoffman is Contributing Editor at the Washington Post and a member of the Editorial board. In 1982, he joined The Washington Post to cover Presidents Reagan and Bush. Later, he was diplomatic correspondent, then served as Jerusalem correspondent, covering the Oslo peace accords. From 1995 to 2001, he served as Moscow bureau chief. On returning to Washington in 2001, he was Foreign editor and then Assistant Managing Editor for Foreign news. He has been a correspondent for the FRONTLINE documentaries "Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria" (2013), "The Trouble With Antibiotics" (2014) and "The Trouble with Chicken" (2015) and a reporter for “Putin’s Revenge,” (2017).

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Giles Slade

an important book about Paya, and Cuba

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on August 20, 2022

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anglophone North Americans have little insight into the disturbing repression of Castroist Cuba. The information isnt generally available in English. We know the party island with the colorful revolutionary past, and don't see the cynicism of the Cuban oligarchy who.live comforably while 80% of the counyry is disenfranchised, hungry and oppressed. This biography takes a Western reader into the moral reality of daily existence in a system whose citizens have few rights & few alternatives. It is for this reason Paya's courage is remarkable, and it is for this reason he was killed. The events of his life and death are a case study in the necessity of resisting totalitarianism in order simply to live with integrity and authenticity. Oswaldo Paya's name is not known outside of Cuba, but his life is an expression of the human thirst for freedom.and self-determination. In Cuba today, Paya's murder marked the end of hope for social improvement and the end of organized opposition. And yet...as the July 11th demonsrations showed, courage is a Cuban virtue that sprputs anew inneach generation. Psya's legacy continues.

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RSF

Un libro magnífico que se lee como una novela

Reviewed in Spain 🇪🇸 on July 8, 2022

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Give me liberty es la biografía de Oswaldo Payá, el opositor cubano laureado con el Premio Sajarov y nominado al Nobel de la Paz en varias ocasiones. David E Hoffman hace una profunda investigación sobre su vida y los antecedentes de la historia de Cuba que llevaron a Oswaldo a enfrentar una dictadura feroz en busca de la libertad de los cubanos, lo cual pagó con su vida. El libro que, en el decir de Vargas Llosa, se lee como una novela (y es cierto), presenta la historia cubana en la etapa de la República, como surgió la Constitución del 40, una de las más avanzadas de su época, el devenir de Fidel Castro y su llegada al poder, traicionando todo lo traicionable y convirtiéndose en un tirano que llevó al país a la miseria y la falta de libertad absoluta. Y cómo este hombre sencillo, católico, de ideas claras y firmes, lo enfrentó. Creo que es un muy buen libro, recomendable para todos los que quieran acercarse a estos hechos. Sólo haría una petición: creo que merece ser traducido y publicado en español para que pueda llegar al mayor número de cubanos e iberoamericanos, que no dominen el inglés. Porque Oswaldo Payá es una figura iluminadora para la realidad de lo que sigue siendo Cuba e Iberoamérica, y este libro es un magnífico acercamiento a su persona y su vida.

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Ponce

Give Me Liberty Review

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 5, 2022

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David E. Hoffman's book on Cuban dissident and human-rights activist Oswaldo Payá is outstanding. The title of the book "Give Me Liberty" fits perfectly the famous quote from Patrick Henry: "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death." The Communist regime in Cuba has oppressed Cubans for over sixty years, and it continues to rely on the empty slogan of "Patria o Muerte" or "Homeland or Death." Payá invoked a clause from the 1940 and 1976 Cuban Constitutions to bring about a peaceful transition via dialogue with all parties involved. His error was in thinking that communist rulers believed in democratic negotiations to cede power. To them, what matters is the perpetuity of communism. Constitutions are only useful to them when they help to enslave the citizens and silence their voices! We saw this when Fidel ceded power to Raul in 2008, and when Raul did the same with Miguel Diaz-Canel in 2018. The only thing that changed in these transitions were the players. While Payá recognized that his initiatives lacked the support of most Cuban-Americans, history has proved that they were right. The majority of Cuban-Americans believe in a famous quote by American abolitionist Frederick Douglass: "“Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.” I think that it was a brilliant idea by author Hoffman to provide a history of republican Cuba in the first chapters of this book. His 30,000-foot view was helpful to those wanting to know more about the short republican period of Cuba from 1902 to 1959 -- a shorter period than the one where Cuba has been under the communist yoke for the last 63 years! While I highly respect Payá's initiatives to restore democracy to Communist Cuba, Communist Cuba gave him death! The Spanish Government authorities failed to launch an investigation of his death even after the driver of the car was a Spaniard (Carromero) and revealed that the car was pushed off the main road by a Cuban Security squad-car. The book was great! Now, we need an investigation of his death and that of Lady in White leader Laura Pollán.

4 people found this helpful

J. C Marrero

Bad guys always win in Cuba

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 2, 2022

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It's said that the moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice. If so, Cuba has been the outlier. Poorly governed since 1492, the island has been dystopian since the 1959 Revolution.

Fidel Castro was Cuba's Henry VIII. Instead of Rome, he cut Cuba off from the United States, but instead that being a blow for sovereignty, like in Henry's case, it was simply a means to take and keep total power as the undisputed dictator of the island. Mr. Hoffman has done a terrific job of summarizing Cuba's post 1898 history and then profiling the story's David (Oswaldo Paya) and Goliath (F. Castro).

The Catholic Church does not come well with a near Quisling-like Archbishop Jaime Ortega toadying up to the regime, as sadly Pope Francis does today.

If demography is destiny, Cuba is losing the future as its young people rightfully despair and leave the island whatever the risks. After all, look at what courage got Mr. Paya.

One person found this helpful

Heriberto J. Alvarez

An extremely sad Story

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 7, 2022

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The contents of this beautiful book should be a lesson to learn for those who think that the small group in control of Cuba is not a dictatorship. Definitely they hate the cuban people because of their silent resistance!!

One person found this helpful

BrazilNut

A well-told story

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 17, 2022

Verified Purchase

Hoffman did an excellent job on revealing the complexities of Cuba and the twisted outcome of Paya. I have read a lot of books on Cuba and the way Hoffman writes is stellar.

One person found this helpful

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Give Me Liberty: The True Story of Oswaldo Payá and his Daring Quest for a Free Cuba Paperback – June 20 2023

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