Diary of a Survivor: Nineteen Years in a Cuban Women's Prison

In 1961, three years into the Cuban revolution, medical student Rodriguez, a member of the anti-Castro underground, was jailed for ``counterrevolutionary acts of sabotage.'' In 1979, after two escapes, several hunger strikes and ``obstinate and uncooperative'' behavior, she was released, free to join anti-Castroites in Miami.She claims that her jailers were glad to be rid of her. As she and Miami Herald journalist Garvin tell it, she was a superwoman who intimidated, harassed and insulted her jailers; they in turn saw her and her prison comrades as ``always looking for some excuse to make trouble'' and indifferent to ``the many times [they were] shown forgiveness.'' Although she was often punished with solitary confinement, it is not clear why worse did not befall her and why, if her jailers were the villains she claims, she was often granted privileges. A self-styled rebel since the age of 14, first against the Batista dictatorship, then Castro, she admits that after her release, she had difficulty not walking on the grass in Miami whenever she saw a Keep Off sign. (June)