‘The problem is that the Revolution is made by imperfect humans’
Cuba:
The Revolution reaches its 50th anniversary
‘The
problem is that the Revolution is made by imperfect humans’
Orestes
Martí – Manuel Alberto Ramy Read Spanish Version
Las
Palmas de Gran Canaria – Havana, Cuba- Paris
An
interview with Hernando Calvo Ospina
So
says Hernando Calvo Ospina (born in 1961), a Colombian who combines
his agile pen with the sharp eyes of those who search for
controversial topics. A writer and journalist, he lives in France and
contributes to the famous publication Le Monde Diplomatique. Among
his published books are "Dissidents
or mercenaries?", "Don Pablo Escobar," "Bacardi
Rum, the CIA, Cuba and globalization," and
"The
CIA’s shock team." His
latest book, "Cuba:
50 years of Revolution; on to victory forever!" was
released in Paris on Jan. 31 to great public acceptance.
Cuba
approaches the celebration of its 50th anniversary. Did you live
through that event? How do you remember it?
Calvo
Ospina: When
the Cuban Revolution occurred, I wasn’t yet born. I do remember,
however, that as a boy my parents took me to Pereira, in the
southwest of Colombia. In that city, there was a barrio called
"Cuba," where some of our relatives lived. It was a modest
barrio, and I had an obsession with meeting Fidel Castro. At that
time, in the late 1960s, that barrio was outside the city. Nearby,
there were some sugar plantations, and I used to ask my parents to
take me there because I might find Fidel there.
Thinking
about it today, I’m struck by the fact that I felt that attraction
toward Fidel and Cuba, when the normal reaction might have been
feeling fear. Propaganda said that he killed children to use them as
canned food, or sent them behind "the Iron Curtain," that
is, the socialist countries, particularly the Soviet Union. That was
the kind of propaganda that many in Latin America actually believed.
I
have recollections where I see myself walking hand-in-hand with my
father, looking for Fidel. And he smiles. I think that it’s urgent
that I ask my parents how they lived through the Cuban Revolution and
what was said about it. If I have those recollections it’s because
they were not much affected by the terrible propaganda, although it
must have touched them. There was so much propaganda and it was so
ominous that surely they must have doubted, even feared.
What
influence did the Cuban Revolution have in your environment?
Calvo
Ospina:
I was born in Cali, a city in Colombia’s southwest. I grew up in one
of the poorest barrios in the country. Aside from rancheras and
tangos, the only other music we heard was Cuban, composed before the
Revolution. It was not called son, cha-cha-cha, or mambo — it was
"Cuban music," and with it we learned to dance.
That
music remained alive in Cali, Buenaventura (a Pacific port city) and
Barranquilla, on the Caribbean. The rhythms created with the
Revolution were totally blocked, forbidden. There was a sensation
that music ended with it. But in the 1980s its sounds began to spread
throughout the continent and we realized that the mythical and
delicious son had not departed from Cuba, as some Miami-produced
songs said repeatedly.
I
also lived the influence of the Revolution during my high-school
days. The nascent political restlessness of our young generation kept
Cuba as a reference point — and we didn’t have to be militants in
the Communist Party. Because of its influence in international
events, Cuba was always present in our student struggles. The dream
of many was to travel to Cuba and "touch" what was already
a rebel myth. But, well, the economic conditions of most of us
converted our dream into reading about Cuba and supporting it.
At
about the same time, the "protest music," or Nueva Trova,
made its appearance. Then came the arguments with some leftist
leaders who wanted to force upon us a kind of music that, in the case
of Cali, had nothing to do with our lives in a modest barrio. The
lyrics were not bad but the sound did not raise our temperature.
While the petite
bourgeoisie of
intellectuals and leftists embraced the Nueva Trova, popular dance
music shared love and rebellion with us, with the lumpenproletariat.
That is why, when the dance tunes produced by the Revolution came to
us in the 1980s, they were not a major discovery to us. In our
streets and street corners, living rooms and porches, we had
carefully guarded their predecessors.
What
is your opinion of the U.S. blockade against Cuba? Would you counsel
the new U.S. administration to lift the blockade in response to the
demands of the international public opinion, especially the results
of the voting at the United Nations?
Calvo
Ospina:
It is shameful, not only on the part of the United States but also of
all the governments that support it one way or another. Because,
although many of them oppose it on paper, when it comes to voting at
the United Nations they play Washington’s game.
What
are the "pending tasks" of the Cuban revolutionary process?
Calvo
Ospina:
Despite its mistakes, the Revolution has a good foundation. The
problem is that it’s made by imperfect humans. I believe many Cubans
have not fully appreciated the Revolution’s almost paternalistic
role. While Father State almost creates miracles to bring a good life
to the people, some Cubans seem to say, "It doesn’t cost us
anything, so let’s party." It is a big challenge for a
Revolution that is still growing, because 50 years is nothing in the
context of the 500 years the nation existed in a sickly system. Cuba
is a school for other processes that are spreading through the
continent. It is a father but it’s not paternalistic. And its
citizens should learn to conserve, because everything has a high
cost, even lives.
What
do you expect from the Cuban Revolution in the next several years?
Calvo
Ospina:
The road is not easy, but it’s not impossible either. Today, Cuba is
not alone. The country that will become isolated is the United
States. The challenge to Cuba is not simple, because it must move
ahead and improve both internally and externally, because Cuba is an
example. What a tough task!
Hernando
Calvo Ospina is a Colombian writer and journalist who lives in Paris.
He has published numerous books about topics related to Cuba and the
Cuban-American far right living in the United States.
