Pablo Betancourt was born poor in Havana, Cuba in 1958, the son of, a longshoreman and a housewife. Revolutionary ardor and scholastic ability propelled Betancourt from one of Havana's meanest neighborhoods to a boarding school for special scholarship students. Later, his brains and militancy pointed him toward a coveted career in foreign trade at the University of Havana. But on the way his enthusiasm cooled. The more questions Betancourt asked as he rose higher on the educational ladder, the more the answers provided by his teachers were suspect. Instead of winding up with a job at the Cuban foreign trade ministry, Betancourt wound up spending five nights at sea on a homemade raft.