This was the era when United States was wooing Fidel, and the island of Cuba had yet become an annex of the Soviet Union, soon to hold missiles aimed at the United States, setting off the nuclear war showdown now known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Until all that happened, Fidel's son, whose name I never knew, was just somewhat of a celebrity in our midst. He and I were about the same age. We never met in either schoolyard.
Now I read Fidel Angel Castro Diaz-Balart has committed suicide at 68, having been hospitalized recently for depression. The dateline of the obituary comes out of Mexico City. Mr. Castro was a nuclear physicist, holding a Ph.D. in physical-mathematical sciences from Kurchatov Institute in Moscow.
I suspect unknown to any of us at the time, including my parents, was that young Fidel was the subject of an intense custody battle between his father and his mother. Apparently, after some intense maneuvering that included a professional kidnapping staged by by Fidel's mother, Fidel Jr. was sent to New York City to live with her for about a year. It was at this point in this life that he went to a local school in Flushing. Eventually, when Fidel Sr. rose to power, the mother was convinced to let young Fidel move back to Cuba.
One can imagine the father's concern for his son living in a country that he was soon going to piss off big time. Young Fidel would have probably been kidnapped by the CIA and held as a bargaining chip against Fidel Sr. Watching too many movies? I don't think so. The world would have been treated to a precursor to an Elian Gonzalez custody battle. A Bay of Pigs-style invasion might have been aimed at Flushing.
The obituary doesn't fully explain the use of the Diaz-Balart surname, but as young Fidel was growing up he hid his real identity from his classmates, likely taking the name from his mother's cousins, who he also lived with. He had little contact with Fidel Sr. and absolutely no interest in politics.
The P.S. 20 building, seen above, is still the same red brick building that young Fidel attended. It has the look all NYC elementary school buildings had. My coal heated P.S. 22 was replaced by a "modern" building so long ago that I'm sure the students and staff think it is the old building now. I have a photo of the old building. It looks stately.
The original P.S. 22 had two entrances for the students, that long before I went there, were designated BOYS and GIRLS, carved over the entrance archways. I don't know if the classes were co-ed or not then. When I went they were phasing out the K-8 grade elementary enrollment and building Junior High schools for the 7-9 grades. These would now be called middle schools, I guess. I was aware of boys in the neighborhood who had been 8th graders at the school.
Funny how the death of a Cuban linked by birth to Fidel Castro can resuscitate grammar school memories.
We live on a Mobius strip.
http://www.onofframp.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment