IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 9 ENGLISH | Page 37

Race, Class and Gender

Chronicle of the
endless honors and
other bad influences
Marcia Cairo
Havana, Cuba

T

he manipulations to extol a
political leader like Fidel Castro
is an unconditional personality
cult —after more than half a century of
dictatorship— that has broken as a
contagious disease, which managed to
hopelessly affect all of us during the
early celebrations of his 90th birthday
with the corresponding consequences.
There was a huge deployment in waves
of publications that covered all possible
areas, from sports to guerrilla warfare.
Foreign authors joined with Castro’s
former buddies, the retired generals who
have already assured a peaceful old age
and can spend the time by dabbling in
literature for telling their memories.
To such an end they have the
undeniable right to publish without
worries. They don’t have to stay in the
waiting list for long-term editorial
approval. Everything is published
without skimping paper; thousands and
thousands of copies are printed out,
even knowing that the production costs
will be never recovered. Behind the
pamphlets, the invisible hand of an
editor is noticeable, and the printed
editions are given away beyond our
borders, especially to Venezuelan
schools and institutions.
Among the audiovisual materials, a
television documentary stood out:
Fidel: The Untold Story (2001), by

filmmaker Estela Bravo, featuring the
historic speech delivered by Castro on
January 8, 1959, at the Columbia
military camp. Bef ore an excited crowd,
a white dove rested on a shoulder of
Fidel, who therefore was considered
The Chosen by the majority of the
Cuban people. Thereafter, they must
follow him and obey his rulings as if he
were the Cuban Messiah.
The website Cubadebate was second to
none in interviews of intellectuals
honoring Castro. However, the real
climax was reached by the birthday gala
on August 13 at the Karl Marx Theater.
It was broadcasted live by Cubavisión.
The attendees were mainly military and
people dressed with white guayaberas.
Fidel sat in the best seat to be delighted
by the child art troupe La Colmenita
[The Little Beehive], which staged a
pedantic version of José Martí´s play
Abdala to equate the Cuban autocrat
with the beloved character created by
Martí.
Within the photographic universe, Fidel
has been captured by disparate artists as
Alberto Korda, Liborio Noval, Osvaldo
Salas, Perfecto Romero, Roberto Chile
... They helped build a myth that is
largely based on Castro’s charisma, but
the talent of the artists and the
recreation of certain works also play
their part.

36