The Cuban propaganda media does not clarify, for example, the reason for Russia’s exclusion from the main international sporting events.
HAVANA, Cuba. – The Cuban rulers, ignoring the almost unanimous condemnation of the international community, supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and later refrained from censuring Russia’s annexation of several border territories that belonged to Ukraine. For these actions, the Kremlin received broad rejection from the United Nations General Assembly.
As a complement to this unconditional support for Moscow, Castroism, using the information monopoly it exercises over our country, has been responsible for sweetening the image of Moscow in the national media and, consequently, presents Russia as a victim of the hostile policy of the West and in particular of NATO.
Regarding the sporting field, and in the context of the global rejection of its actions, the Eurasian giant has been prevented from participating in many international competitions, such as the Paris Olympics last year. The Russian athletes who took part in that and other competitions have done so in their personal capacity, without being able to use their country’s flag or anthem.
Cuban sports announcers, when narrating judo, wrestling or any other sport events in which Russian athletes participate, clarify that they do so on behalf of the respective international federations of those sports, but without mentioning the reason for the absence of the national symbols of Russia. As almost always happens, the representatives formed by Castroism either distort or remain silent when it is not convenient for them to tell the truth.
Of course, they cannot talk about the reason for Russia’s exclusion from such events, just as they have to continue with the discourse of the “special military operation” and not clearly express that it is an invasion of Ukrainian territory. Thus, any clueless viewer could believe that this is another international conspiracy against “poor little” Russia. Something that would be very pleasing to the Castro authorities.
On a cultural level, the rapprochement between Cuba and the Eurasian giant has also intensified. These days, the twinning of Saint Petersburg and several Cuban cities has been signed, and more recently it was announced that Russia will be the guest country of the next Havana International Book Fair.
In statements made to the newspaper Granmathe Russian ambassador to Cuba, Víctor Koronelli, after thanking his country for the recognition, took advantage of the occasion to insist on his nation’s condition as a victim, words in perfect harmony with Castro’s policy of emphasizing the innocence of Moscow.
This is how the ambassador stated: “We can say that this rabid anti-Russian impulse has suffered a crushing defeat, since it is impossible to cancel Pushkin and Lermontov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Bulgakov, since their legacy does not belong only to the Russian people, but to all of humanity.”
That is another trick of language that unites Putin’s Russia with Castro’s Cuba. They consider themselves as heirs of 19th century Russian culture as the current Cuban rulers aspire to be the successors of the mambises who won our independence.
Of course, the animosity against Russia is not directed at the detriment of the veneration of those figures of Russian poetry and prose, who in the 19th century highly praised the culture of that nation. The condemnation is directed at the new tsar, Vladimir Putin, heir to the Stalinist spirit and the worst war tradition of his country, and who has not hesitated even to hire mercenaries from third countries to maintain the aggression against the Ukrainian people.
