Cuba by Stephen Coonts Read Free Book Online

and some idea of the amount.
    Come now, impress me with your frankness and your
    honesty.”
    “Over five million Americanea”…El Gato
    said.
    This was twice the figure Vargas expected, and he
    looked at the American sharply. If El Gato
    was lying, exaggerating the number to impress Vargas,
    it didn’t show in his face.
    “Some of that money, a small amount it is true,
    came directly from the Cuban governmentea”…El
    Gato said. “I believe you authorized those
    payments.”
    “You have a sense of the sardonic, I seeea”…Vargas
    said without humor. One got the impression he had not
    smiled in his lifetime, nor would he.
    El Gato nodded.
    “You had a commodity to sell, we wished to buy. We
    paid a fair price.”
    “Come, come, Senor Vargas. Let’s not pretend
    with each other. I arranged for you to acquire the
    equipmenteaand chemicals necessary to create a
    biological warfare program. What you have done with
    those chemicals and equipment
    1 don’t know, nor do I want to know. But you know
    as well as I that if the American government found
    out about the sale I would be ruined. And you know that I
    made no profit in the transaction.”
    Vargas nodded, a dip of the head.
    “Nor have I asked for money for arranging to steal
    Nuestra Senora.”
    “That is true, but if the operation succeeds, we would
    have paid a fair amount.”
    “I do not want your money.”
    “You want something. What?”
    El Gato walked a few paces with his hands in his
    pockets before he spoke. “After Castro I
    envision a Cuba much more friendly to American
    interests, more open to a free flow of capital in and
    out. A great many people in the
    United States have a great deal of money
    accumulated that they want to invest in Cuba, which they
    will do as soon as the United States government
    allows them to do so, and as soon as the Cuban
    government guarantees these investors that their investment
    will not be confiscated or stolen with hidden taxes or
    demands for graft. A man who could
    guarantee that his friends would be fairly treated in
    Cuba could make a lot of money. He would be a
    patron, if you will. And if he carefully screened
    his friends, Cuba would get a vetted flow of capable
    investors who would perform as promised.”
    “Something for everyoneea”…Vargas said.
    “Precisely.”
    “Just so that I understandare you suggesting that you want to be
    that man,
    el jefecitol”
    “I could do it, I believe.”
    “The exiles expect to come to Cuba at Castro’s
    death and take over the country. They want
    billions in repatriations! I tell you now, you have
    helped fuel their expectations with your five
    million dollars.”
    What he failed to mention was the fact that the Cuban
    government had played to the fears of the peons who
    stayed, telling them they would be thrown from their
    homes”…if the exiles ever returned.
    El Gato smiled. “Like the exiles, you fail
    to clearly see the situation. They are Americans.
    They make more money in America than they ever could in
    Cuba. They will never return in significant
    numbers. In fact, if the borders are
    thrown open, the net human flow will be toward the
    United States, not back to Cuba. If the
    American government would allow it, a million
    Cubans a year would leave this island. You would be
    wise to let people go where they wish to go.”
    “You are saying the exile problem will just disappear?”
    “Except for a few bitter old men, yes, I
    believe it will. The young ones have gotten on with their
    lives. They have no old scores to settle.”
    “So you betray these old ones for your own profit?”
    “Senor Vargas, if they wish to nurse old
    grudges and dream of a time which is long past and will
    never come again, who am I to tell them no? Most of
    these people are quite harmless. Those who aren’t can be dealt with
    when they cause problems. A public apology
    to dispossessed old people, a plea for healing, a few
    pesos, and the exiles could be