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An ugly past relevant to
Cuba's future
Posted on Wed, Apr. 26,
2006. The
Miami Herald, April 28, 2006.
To reconcile the past, you must know the
truth about it. To that end, Armando M.
Lago and María C. Werlau are producing
priceless work that promises to benefit
post-tyranny Cuba. The two are the driving
forces behind the Cuba Archive, which seeks
to document the victims of the Cuban Revolution.
One day, the accounts of extrajudicial executions,
torture and disappearances will contribute
to the search for truth and justice in a
democratic Cuba. The data will help in the
struggle to come to terms with the many
human-rights abuses committed under totalitarian
rule.
Thousands died
Meanwhile, the Cuba Archive puts a human
face on the people who have suffered at
the hands of the revolution. The individual
stories show the lie of Fidel Castro's benevolent
society and counter the revolution's propaganda
with facts.
The archive now lists more than 40,000
people who died or disappeared for political
or military reasons. Most victims are documented
by name and at least two sources. Some may
quibble with the categories included. About
3,000 are people killed during the Batista
period before Castro took power in 1959.
More than 9,000 are Angolan guerrillas killed
by Cuban forces in Angola.
Nonetheless, the data may be sorted in
whatever manner makes best sense to those
interested. In a post-Castro Cuba, new sources
should provide opportunities to add to,
correct and confirm what is in the archive.
Documenting horror isn't easy. As The Miami
Herald's April 23 article The revolution's
toll notes, Mr. Lago still chokes up talking
about Virgilio Campanería, a law-school
classmate who was executed in 1961. Ms.
Werlau's father, Armando Cañizares
Gamboa, is also on the list. A disillusioned
rebel who returned to un seat Castro, he
is presumed to have been killed at age 28
at the Bay of Pigs in 1961.
Also included are the 45 Cubans who drowned
when the Cuban Coast Guard sank the 13 de
marzo tugboat in 1994. Owen Delgado Temprana,
15, was beaten to death at State Security
headquarters in 1981. Political prisoner
Julio Tang Taxier, 28, was stabbed with
a bayonet by a prison guard in 1966 and
bled to death.
The material in the Cuba Archive may indeed,
as its authors hope, lay a foundation for
an eventual truth, justice and reconciliation
process. Doing so would help prevent such
atrocities from being committed again in
Cuba.
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