Witness History Folgen

We go back to 1959 when Cuba’s most famous ballet dancer Alicia Alonso turned her back on a successful career on the world stage and returned home to form Cuba’s National Ballet Company. She spoke to Mike Lanchin in 2015.(Photo: Alicia Alonso. Credit: Alicia Alonso)

Earlier this year, Cuba lifted a 60-year ban on professional boxing, which Fidel Castro imposed in 1962. Before then, amateur boxers who wanted to turn pro, had to risk everything in order to defect. Rachel Naylor speaks to Mike ‘The Rebel’ Perez, who escaped in 2007 with the assistance of Mexican gangsters, a fishing boat and an Irish promoter.(Photo: Mike Perez (right) and Bryant Jennings during their heavyweight bout at Madison Square Garden on 26 July 2014 in New York. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1961, Fidel Castro launched a nationwide campaign aimed to eradicate illiteracy in Cuba. An ‘army’ of volunteers known as brigadistas equipped with books and pencils travelled across the country to teach people how to read and write. Alex Collins spoke to Rosa Hernandez Acosta who taught many adults even though she was a 10-year-old schoolgirl herself.(Photo: Rosa Hernandez Acosta. Credit: Kian Seara)