Last year, Armando Valladares' book...
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Last year, Armando Valladares' book, Against All Hope, was re-released. First published in Spanish in 1984, it is a first-person account of Valladares' 22 years in Fidel Castro's prison. Valladares, a Christian, was originally arrested in 1960 because he refused to post a pro-communist sign in the post office where he worked. The book tells of Castro's inhumanity toward him, for Christianity has always been among the Cuban dictator's chief targets. In jail, Valladares heard other Christians being killed, and noted that they often cried out Viva Christo Rey! (Hail, Christ the King!) with their dying breath. From them, and from his faith, Valladares drew courage. He writes, "I not only understood ... that Christ was there for me at the moments when I prayed not to be killed, but realized as well that he served to give my life, and death if it came to that, ethical meaning."
Valladares became known for his resistance to the regime. As his circumstances grew worse, his faith grew. "I never asked [God] to get me out of there; I didn't think that God should be used for that kind of request. I only asked that he allow me to resist, that he give me the faith and spiritual strength to bear up under these conditions without sickening with hatred."
Valladares became known for his resistance to the regime. As his circumstances grew worse, his faith grew. "I never asked [God] to get me out of there; I didn't think that God should be used for that kind of request. I only asked that he allow me to resist, that he give me the faith and spiritual strength to bear up under these conditions without sickening with hatred."
