Book excerpt: AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT BY THE NEW YORK TIMES CORRESPONDENT—WHAT REALLY OCCURRED IN CUBA AFTER FIDEL CASTRO SEIZED POWER In three short years Fidel Castro and his revolution have destroyed the once prosperous economy of Cuba and helped the Soviet Union establish its first armed beachhead in the Western Hemisphere. Ruby Hart Phillips, for twenty-five years the resident New York Times correspondent in Havana, maintains that Castro’s takeover is a classic example of the incredibly inadequate American policy in foreign affairs. A display of courage and foresight even as late as 1958 would, she declares, have neutralized Castro and put Cuba back on the road to democracy. The claim by Castro supporters, both in Cuba and the United States, that Castro was pushed into the Communist camp by our mistaken foreign policy is clearly shown to be one of the great lies of the Castro revolution. But, she stresses, the United States must take the whole responsibility for Cuba’s communism today. Step by step she analyzes the indecisive and conciliatory moves of the U.S. State.