Culebra | An Evening with Armando H. Díaz & Jeneissy Azcuy

🎟 This event is FREE and open to the public and books will be available for purchase the night of the event! An RSVP grants general entry, but seating is not guaranteed, so please try and show up early. Please RSVP only if you intend to join us. Can't make the event?

In 1962, fifteen-year-old Alfredo is forced to flee Cuba, leaving behind everything he has ever known. After a harrowing rescue from a bullet-riddled, sinking boat in the Florida Straits, he is taken to a Catholic refugee camp near the Everglades, where he must navigate an unfamiliar country and an uncertain future.

Unknown to Alfredo, he carries the key to stopping an international crisis — one that will soon engulf the entire world. As the Cuban Missile Crisis brings the United States and Soviet Union to the edge of nuclear conflict, Alfredo is drawn into a dangerous web of intrigue that connects his own desperate flight from Cuba to the highest-stakes geopolitical standoff of the twentieth century. Forced to confront a ruthless villain in a plot filled with disturbing surprises, the novel builds to a shocking climax that will leave readers breathless.

A work of historical fiction rooted in real events, Culebra offers a poignant exploration of resilience amidst political turmoil, blending meticulously researched history with heart-pounding suspense. It is a novel for anyone who has ever been forced to start over — and for anyone who loves a thriller that illuminates the past.

Armando H. Díaz was born in Havana, Cuba. At age fifteen, he was among the more than fourteen thousand children evacuated to the United States through Operation Pedro Pan. After arriving in America, Díaz spent time at Camp Matecumbe, a refugee boys’ camp in South Florida, before being transferred to a foster home in Arlington, Virginia, and later New York City. These formative experiences ignited his passion for storytelling and inspired him to coauthor his first novel, which draws on the true events surrounding the complex relationship between Cuba and the United States during that pivotal era.

Díaz studied marketing at Brooklyn College and the New York School of Advertising, and built a distinguished career spanning more than thirty years in advertising and marketing sales. He held positions as an account executive for WNJU-TV (owned by Columbia Pictures), as a media buyer and television sales representative for Univision, Telemundo, and Televisa, and as sales manager for Azteca America television.

Jeneissy Azcuy’s journey began in Cuba, where she was born before immigrating to the United States at age seven, an experience that shaped her perspective and fueled her passion for education and communication. After teaching high school English literature and earning a master’s degree in communications, Azcuy found her calling in public media, where she excelled as an executive in marketing, communications, and education outreach. Her family remains her greatest source of inspiration, serving as the cornerstone of both her personal and professional life.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Books & Books, 265 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables, United States

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