Marta Rojas was an iconic Cuban journalist and author. Outgoing and seemingly tireless, Rojas early in her career as a reporter covered Fidel Castro’s first attempt to overthrow the Fulgencio Batista regime. She also trekked into Cuba’s Sierra Maestra to cover the revolution as it unfolded.
Rojas, who died in 2021, was one of the few foreign journalists to cover the Vietnam war from the North Vietnamese perspective. She traveled to Vietnam 13 times and interviewed Ho Chi Minh. Marta and I had long professional relationship. She had close ties to Castro and had an excellent understanding of the controversial leader.
Marta shared with me her experience in Vietnam during the war. Here is an excerpt from my book.
Ever the intrepid reporter, Rojas secured an assignment to cover the Vietnam War as a guest of the Viet Cong. It would prove a dramatic period in her life.
“I was in Vietnam for several months, all of them in the South,” she recounted, her eyes twinkling as she recalled the daring journalistic adventure. “All of it was amazing. There was always the danger of attack. The first time I heard planes overhead, I hit the ground, looking for shelter. The Vietnamese laughed and told me that the bombs would have hit before I heard the planes.”
The most searing memory she brought back was the knowledge that a Third World people could withstand the force and fury of the United States. “This was a lesson that I shared all over Cuba. We had not suffered anything as they had. It really opened our eyes to what the Americans could do to a poor country and what that country, if united, could do in response.”
Ricardo Chavira Chicano 