Manipulation and Manipulators

Manipulation and Manipulators / Fernando Dámaso

Fernando Damaso, 5 February 2017 — To say that the history of Cuba has
been manipulated over the last 58 years is nothing original. Subjected
to "ideological accommodation," with the objective of using it for the
narrow interests of the established power, important people and events
have been ignored or misrepresented, and others that are insignificant
have been elevated to much greater importance. Also they have elevated,
much more than warranted, the thinking and actions of some questionable
figures, for the sole intention of holding onto power way too long, to
the extreme of comparing them advantageously with truly important
national figures.

The most mistreated and manipulated has been Jose Marti, who has been
credited with events he was never responsible for and even named a
"great disciple," sometimes considered greater than he was. In addition,
they have assigned him, in his historic journey, an annoying and
undesirable traveling companion, resulting in concentrating "his
thinking, the disposition of Cespedes, the machete of Maceo, the
delivery of Agramonte and the force of Gomez," something unheard of and
never before seen in Cuba, not even in the darkest days of Machado, when
he was considered "the eminent one" and the unbridled praise of his
sycophants abounded.

The founding fathers of the nation were always respected by the
government of the day, and were never politicized, as happens now. It
could be due to the lack of real values in the current figures.

It seems that some historians, in their eagerness to enjoy some of the
few crumbs offered by power, have lost respect and have forgotten that,
in the end, "History will not absolve them, either."*

*Translator's note: A reference to Fidel Castro's statement "Go ahead,
condemn me, history will absolve me" which he is said to have
declared at his trial for the attack on the Moncada Barracks, an event
which is considered the start of the revolution, although it failed and
Fidel Castro was imprisoned for his part in it.

Source: Manipulation and Manipulators / Fernando Dámaso – Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/manipulation-and-manipulators-fernando-dmaso/