Yunior Garcia Aguilera
In 2010, in an interview with the Mexican newspaper the day, Fidel Castro admitted for the first time his responsibility for the persecution suffered by homosexuals in Cuba. He first asked the journalist for time to remember, as if the event were too far away and blurry. Then, between derivations and hesitations, he inserted a clever sentence so that his readers could infer that the fault might not really be his.
He said like this: “A great injustice! Whoever did it. If it was us, we… I’m trying to define my responsibility in all this because, of course, I personally don’t have that kind of prejudice.”
Anyone familiar with the disastrous history of the Military Production Aid Units (UMAP) could see his cynicism, especially when he justified himself by saying: “It is true that at that time I could not take care of that matter… I was immersed, mainly, in the October Crisis, in the war, in political issues”.
Twelve years later, Miguel Barnet tried to juggle to fully exonerate him. The old poet affirmed that he did not understand the reason why Fidel had assumed that responsibility, “when he did not have that responsibility.” He then took the opportunity to shower him with praise, describing his behavior as “honest and brave.”
[[QUOTE:Doce años después, Miguel Barnet intentaba hacer malabares para exculparlo totalmente. El viejo poeta afirmaba no entender la razón por la cual Fidel había asumido esa culpa]]To top it off, on November 12 in a podcast of cubadebate, they would try again to wash the face of the deceased dictator, to erase any possible homophobic stain. Abel Prieto assured that the Gray Quinquennium, with the parameterization included, was a betrayal, an opportunistic distortion of the spirit of words to the intellectualsand praised Fidel’s “ecumenical” call.
Either all of them suddenly suffer from brutal amnesia, or they are scoundrels. The Department of Shorthand Versions of the Revolutionary Government has published in its entirety the infamous speech that Fidel Castro gave, in front of the steps of the University of Havana, just two years after his words to the intellectuals.
That March 13, 1963, before an euphoric crowd that did not stop laughing, clapping and shouting “paredón”, Fidel gave himself the pleasure of showing who he really was. He felt much more comfortable there than in the place where he had dictated the dogma that would govern cultural policy. In the Library he had admitted to feeling a bit lost, bored perhaps, by discussions he didn’t understand. The bearded 35-year-old, without any interest in singing or dancing, paraphrased an old Mussolini phrase there to adapt it to his revolution. The terrible thing is that this formula would be used in the future to unleash all kinds of crimes against human dignity.
In case anyone had any doubts about what Fidel Castro was referring to with the “irretrievably counterrevolutionary” thing, it was enough to be present two years later in front of the steps. The hot-headed commander unleashed his bloodlust every time he uttered, to cheers, the phrase “capital punishment” against a long list of people he called “by-products.”
[[QUOTE:Alguien en el público quiso hacer un aporte, gritando: “los flojos de pierna, los homosexuales”. Y al barbudo le brillaron los ojitos]]Suddenly, someone in the audience wanted to make a contribution, shouting: “the weak-legged, the homosexuals.” And the bearded man’s eyes shone. It was then that he vomited one of the worst phrases ever said by any dictator, during the second half of the 20th century.
His exact words, between laughs, were the following: “Many of those lazy pepillos, sons of bourgeois, walk around with too tight little pants, some of them with a little guitar, in attitudes elvispreslianasand who have taken their debauchery to the extreme of wanting to go to some places of public gathering to organize their shows free feminoids. That they do not confuse the serenity of the Revolution and the equanimity of the Revolution with weaknesses of the Revolution. Because our society cannot accommodate these degenerations. Socialist society cannot allow this type of degeneration.”
Every time we talk about the Gray Quinquennium, the parameterization or the Umap, the cultural commissioners seek to place all the blame on Luis Pavón, the official who directed the National Council of Culture in those days. But it is enough to read another fragment of Fidel Castro’s speech to clearly understand that Pavón is nothing more than a scapegoat. The homophobic commander said: “There are a few theories, I am not a scientist, I am not a technician in that matter [risas]but I did always observe one thing: that the field did not give that by-product.” And then he finished: “So, we consider that our agriculture needs arms.”
Nothing more to add.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio He is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for accompanying us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our newspaper. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
