Bacardí and The Long Fight for Cuba

Bacardí and THE LONG FIGHT FOR CUBA

The Biography of a Cause

By: Tom Gjelten

Penguin Books, Ltd 2008

This book is a great read of how the Bacardí family, and the company it created, evolved from its 1852 beginning in Santiago, Cuba, to become the largest family owned spirits company in the world.   Central to the book is how the family reacted to the political events of the times:  the Spanish American War/Cuban independence, and the communist takeover in 1950's.   Both events had active Bacardí family involvement, with personal ties to Teddy Roosevelt, and later, financial support for Castro.   Notwithstanding the support for Castro,  the Bacardí Rum Company was eventually nationalized.  Castro made a mistake, however, in the context of the expropriation order nationalizing the company.  He neglected to include trademarks and other intangible assets in the order, thus allowing Bacardí to successfully reorganize outside of Cuba.

There are two other takeaways from this book for me.  The first is the influence that Che Guevara had on Castro, and the second relates to political/economic differences between the Cuban cities of Santiago and Havana.   In a personal context it reminded me of living in Mexico or Brazil, where the relationship between Mexico City/Monterrey, or Rio de Janeiro/ Sao Paulo sometimes diverged.   Perhaps this occurs in many countries. (NYC, and Chicago or Madrid and Barcelona or Tokyo and Osaka?)

It seems that Castro might have left some vestiges of the private sector intact had Guevara not pressed him on collectivization.  At that time Guevara, as Minister of Commerce, was more interested in implementing the Russian political model, than in the success of business.   Of course Castro had to reappraise and become slightly less dogmatic years later when the Soviet Union collapsed.  The latter is also discussed in some detail by the author.

Readers interested in Cuban history, and how the most prominent Cuban family of its time dealt with change, will enjoy this book.   Pick up a copy.....you might also enjoy a Cuba libre or a rum and coke while reading it!

TRH

Sociedad Hispana Doylestown

June 3, 2011