The Similar Fate of Many a Cuban Exile

What a captivating (and uniquely Cuban) story of a man whose career and place in history was cut short by the injustice of Castro’s revolution. [“Looking for Roma–ach”] How I wish I had a crystal ball to look inside and see what men like Roma–ach might have achieved in Cuba Libre.

I found myself most impacted, though, by the reason why Roma–ach never established in the U.S. the high-velocity practice he’d had in Havana. This minute but significant factor on Roma–ach’s life and career mirrors much of my own father’s professional growth (or lack of) in the States.

As Nancy Levinson so aptly writes, “Part of the problem was practical…but the real dilemma was of exile, of the life uprooted, and the career cut in two.” Like Roma–ach, my father never regained the success and respect he enjoyed in Cuba throughout the 1950s while working for the Cuban Telephone Company, where he created a vast professional network. My father also missed the personal and professional relationships that any person would cherish and strive toward.

Roma–ach’s story is like that of hundreds, if not thousands, of dedicated and incredibly talented Cuban men and women who gave up such a beautiful way of life. Those days now live only in our memories. I look forward to Rodriguez’s book on Roma–ach’s works.

Eduardo Sueiro
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