He has published Hemingway in Cuba and Ernest Hemingway: Rediscovered, both available in English, as well as Dulces guerreros cubanos, Condenados de Condado (which received the Casa de las Americas Prize in 1968), Posición Uno, and El último Santuario. His work has been praised by today's most distinguished intellectuals, such as Italo Calvino, William Kennedy, Norman Mailer and Gabriel García Márquez. The Autobiography of Fidel Castro has been sold to Europe's most prestigious publishing houses.

Fuentes was a close friend of Castro's and thus had privileged knowledge of the Cuban secret service during some of the most difficult years of the revolution. No one knows the complexities of Fidel's powerful character and the political background of the Cuban revolution like he does. After spending many years alongside the revolutionary leader, Fuentes tried to escape the island, was detained, and eventually released with the assistance of Gabriel García Márquez and William Kennedy. He currently lives in the United States.