The Hemingway Marlin Fish Tournament

To protest the “heinous act,” commanders Che Guevara, Ramiro Valdés, Camilo Cienfuegos, William Morgan, Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo, Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado (who would remain the president of Cuba until 1976), and Fidel Castro walked arm in arm down Calle Neptuno, forming a dramatic contrast between the street’s garish neon signs and the plain green of their uniforms—and the sobriety of their mission. Consequently, Hemingway did not abandon his residence or speak out against Fidel Castro, but instead invited him and Che Guevara to go fishing. Watching through their binoculars from the Pilar as Fidel fished and Che read Stendhal’s Le rouge et le noir, Mary and Ernest could hardly believe their eyes when Fidel brought the two marlins in and stopped his assistant from gaffing them until Fidel could grasp the leader himself (rather than the line—just as the rules specified).

Source: www.theparisreview.org