Chief of Staff, José Dirceu, says that the generation who came to
power with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is in debt with Cuba.
Dirceu also reminds us that the Brazilian Left, during the years of the
military regime, could always count on Cubaon its solidarity, its "friendly
hand" and its "strong arm". "I consider myself a Cuban
Brazilian and a Brazilian Cuban", he says.
Janer Cristaldo. Brazzil
- Nation - June 2003.
Does anyone remember the 1970s, when you could be labeled an 'imperialist
pig' for denouncing Cuba as the financier of the so-called 'revolutionary
movements' in Brazil? The connections between Cuba and the Brazilian leftnot
only Cuba, by the way, but also Moscow, Beijing, Algiers and Praguewere
obvious, but one was doomed and immediately blacklisted by the Left for daring
to state the obvious. If you wrote for a living, publishing houses suddenly
vanished. If you were a journalist, newspapers disappeared.
A literary genre was actually born at the timeCuban travel journals.
Bookstores built special shelves to welcome it. The vein started with Fernando
Morais, in 1976, with A Ilha (The Island), a book that became the icon of the
Left and quickly hit the bestseller list. Of course the book never mentioned
Castro's assassinations, torture, dictatorship or the thousands of political
prisoners.
Later, Fernando Morais also wrote Olga, supposedly a biography of a female
officer in the Red Army who was posted in Brazil by order of Stalin. The author
saw Olga as a hero and a martyra victim of Getúlio Vargas and the
Nazis. Morais collected a handsome profit with his literature, very much
appreciated at the time. His editors, tooafter all, there is no law in
this country against publishing books containing lies. Now we hear that Morais
is writing a biography of right-wing senator Antônio Carlos Magalhães.
What's wrong with that, if it pays well?
But I was talking about Cuba. It was also in very bad taste at the time to
say that somebody was an agent of the Cuban government. Or that Cuba supplied
arms and training to Brazilian guerillas. Of course that was then. Right now,
howeversurprise!we have a known agent of the Cuban security
services, José Dirceu, who took office as the president's Chief of Staff,
declaring loud and clear that the generation who came to power with President
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is in debt with Cuba. Dirceu also reminds us
that the Brazilian Left, during the years of the military regime, could always
count on Cubaon its solidarity, its "friendly hand" and its "strong
arm". "I consider myself a Cuban Brazilian and a Brazilian Cuban",
he says.
To be more precise: the Chief of Staff of the Brazilian presidency admits,
for the whole world to listen, that the ascension of the PT (Workers Party) to
power is due to the good efforts of the oldest dictatorship in the continent. He
forgot, of courseor purposefully declined to mentionthat even before
the military took power in Brazil, Cuba was already sending arms to our
guerrillas. This is actually the touchstone of the PT. One should never admit
that the intervention by Cuba happened before 1964 [year of the revolution in
Brazil, when the military took power]. For the PT to admit such a fact would be
to have its argument crumble to the groundthat the guerilla was a reaction
to the military regime. In fact, however, what happened was the exact opposite.
Nothing like power to loosen the tongue of the people holding it. The timing
is tragically significant, too, with the news of the 78 Cuban "dissidents"
arrested last March, now convicted and facing prison terms ranging from ten
years to life. Dissidents, of course, is the press's favorite euphemism to
designate political opponents, human rights' militants, independent writers and
journalists. (If you read newspapers, you must have noticed that dissidents
exist only in socialist countries).
Diplomats and foreign journalists have tried to obtain permits to watch the
proceedings in Havana, but they were denied access to the courts. This is the
Cuba to which our PT owes its victory, according to our Cuba-Brazilian José
Dirceu. The same Cuba who sends to prison any person opposed to the regime. In
Europe and in the U.S. there is protest coming from both the press and human
rights' organizations against the escalation of the dictatorship. In Brazil,
however, there is a deep silence.
As if it were not enough to watch the heartfelt homage rendered to the Cuban
dictatorship by our Chief of Staff, the news from the Berlin film festival is
that Oliver Stone has just launched the most recent hagiology to the dictator,
entitled Comandante. During three days, the American filmmaker followed the
dictatorpardon me, the 'Cuban leader'around, and the result is a
90-minute documentary. Questioned about the practice of torture in Cuba, Castro
denied its existence. Would the filmmaker ever expect el Comandante to admit
being a torturer?
The question should, instead, have been answered by the so-called
dissidents, but these are characters that Stone did not bother to interview. As
to his status as a dictator, something the Brazilian press barely dares
mentioning, Castro seems ready to admit to it. "Is it that bad to be a
dictator?"is the question at the end of the movie. El Comandante
thinks not. "I have seen States become very good friends with some
dictators". A favorite icon of the press, Castro can now permit himself the
luxury of admitting to it. He is untouchable.
As if the piece from Oliver Stonea film to be surely seen and cheered
by the great friend and admirer of Castro, president Luiz Inácio Lula da
Silvawere not enough, the Brazilian people are about to finance Os Diários
da Motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries), the new road movie from Walter Salles.
When the time comes to secure the money to produce his movies, this gentleman,
who comes from a family of bankers, doesn't go to Daddy's bank for financinginstead,
he goes to the pockets of Brazilian taxpayers.
The screenplay is based on the book De Moto pela América do Sul
(South America on a Motorbike), a memoir about a trip taken by Che Guevara
throughout the continent at a time when the future Argentinean apparatchik under
Moscow's orders, then 23 years old, could never even dream that one day he would
be celebrated as a saint, San Ernesto de la Higuera. If you ever feel like
reading a compilation of failures, please read a biography of Che. This is a man
who failed in all his projects, except in Cubathis same Cuba which, half a
century after its struggle, keeps sending to prison anyone who dares to oppose
the will of the island's sovereign. In other words, Che's sole victory resulted
in a colossal disaster.
As if this homage to the collector of flops, which will surely be used as
pedagogical materials for the Comunidades Eclesiais de Base (Grassroots Church
Communities) and for the Catholic guerillas of MST (the Landless Party), were
not enough, Ediouro (publishers) is releasing Outra Vez (Again), a continuation
of the journal of the man who, not content with bringing an island to disaster,
wanted to drown the whole continent. The journey begins in 1953, in Bolivia, and
ends up in Mexico, where Che would meet Fidel Castro, in 1956. In these days of
the PT in power, it now looks like we'll have a revival of the 70s. With African
History becoming a mandatory subject in our schools, it would not be surprising
to see some nostalgic widow proposing a new school subjectCuban Historyto
help wash the brains of emerging generations.
Ours is a sad country. It has been 14 years since the fall of the Berlin
Wall and 12 years since the crumbling down of the Soviet Union. Extraneous to
the history being made under their noses, our elites insist in worshiping the
last petrified residues of a doctrine that caused the death of a mere hundred
million people during the last century.
Janer Cristaldohe holds a PhD from University of Paris, Sorbonneis
an author, translator, lawyer, philosopher and journalist and suffers São
Paulo. His e-mail address is cristal@baguete.com.br
Translated by Tereza Braga, email: tbragaling@cs.com |