Tom Gjelten’s Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba

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Veteran NPR correspondent Tom Gjelten will discuss the history of Bacardi rum, founded in 1862 in Santiago de Cuba and based today in Hamilton, Bermuda. This event marks the occasion of the Spanish translation of Gjelten’s lauded book, Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause (Viking, 2008). Gjelten will read from the original book and the translation, Bacardí y la larga lucha por Cuba (Principal de los Libros, 2011). The presentation will include vintage images from the publication.

The Bacardis of Cuba, builders of a rum distillery and a worldwide brand came of age with their nation and helped define what it meant to be Cuban. Across five generations, the Bacardi family has held fast to its Cuban identity, even in exile from the country for whose freedom they once fought. Now Gjelten tells the dramatic story of one family, its business, and its country, a 150-year tale with the sweep and power of an epic.

Co-presented by the Americas Society, the Cuban Cultural Center of New York, and Principal de los Libros. In English with bilingual readings. 

Press Inquiries: Please contact Adriana La Rotta at alarotta@as-coa.org or 1-212-277-8384.

Tom Gjelten is a correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) news. Gjelten has worked for NPR since 1982, when he joined the organization as a labor and education reporter. More recently he has covered diplomatic and national security issues, based out of NPR's Washington, D.C., headquarters. Gjelten and his colleagues at NPR received a Peabody Award in 2004 for "The War in Iraq."

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