Neill W. Macaulay, Jr.

Neill W. Macaulay Jr. (April 10, 1935, in South Carolina – October 28, 2007, in Micanopy, Florida) was a writer, professor and a former lieutenant in Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement Army.

Prof. Macaulay was a graduate of the University of Texas and The Citadel and served two years with the U.S. Army in the Korean War, As Castro's forces closed in on Havana, in December 1958 Macaulay started training firing squads and was promoted to lieutenant. Members of Macaulay's unit included Rafael del Pino, who became chief of Cuba's air force, but later defected. After the revolution, Cuba gave Macaulay a tomato farm and he profitably shipped one crop to Pompano Beach, Florida. However, in 1961, when Castro announced intentions to control exports, he left for the U.S. where he had to fight a legal battle to retain his U.S. citizenship. He returned to Cuba in 1991, after being repeatedly denied entry by the Castro government. He later made various other trips as an academic. Macaulay's experiences in Cuba helped inspire two documentaries Cuba: A Lifetime of Passion (2007) and Patria o Muerte (still in production).