Luis Hernández Navarro, correspondent / La Jornada
Havana. Casa de las Américas is an emblematic cultural institution of the Cuban Revolution and Latin American intellectuals. Abel Prieto, 76, author of a remarkable body of literary work, is its director.
Labeled a Marxist-Lennonist for his admiration of one of the Beatles — John Lennon — Abel Prieto plays a fundamental role in the Network of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of Humanity.
In an interview with La Jornada, he maintains that the current state of the world reminds him of a line from Ivan Karamazov, the character in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel, in which Karamazov says that if God does not exist, everything is permitted. And since, for Trump, the only God is himself, he can do whatever he pleases. His whims have placed us in a world without rules.
According to Prieto, Cuba currently faces the old dilemma of: colony or sovereignty, colony or independence. And, for them, independence is synonymous with socialism. If they lose socialism, the nation is lost, and they return to being a shameful U.S. colony, as they were more than 60 years ago.
Below are key excerpts from this conversation.
—How is Donald Trump’s new offensive being experienced in Cuba?
—What Trump intends with this new offensive is to suffocate us directly in the short term. He wants this country, its economy, and its services to be strangled by a lack of fuel. That’s why he’s threatening to sanction countries that sell it to us.
It’s grotesque; all that’s missing is a naval blockade.
“He’s implementing a blockade in its most grotesque and brutal form. All that’s missing is a naval blockade! His objective is the same as it was during Eisenhower’s time: to create poverty, shortages, and hardship for the people.
“He seeks to create hardships and multiply them so that the people blame their government and their party for what happens. They want to precipitate regime change. They think that with the coup in Venezuela, they’ll deliver the final blow to the Cuban revolution.”
” –What went wrong that allowed the right wing to win the communications battle?
–There’s something Ignacio Ramonet told me, and he’s absolutely right. The left has a limitation in the communications battle: ethics. Fidel Castro told us that we must never lie or violate ethical principles. Our enemies on social media lie all the time. They spend their time insulting our leaders, slandering them, saying things without any proof whatsoever. Lies are an essential weapon of this new fascism. And, despite the damage they inflict, we can’t respond with lies. We have to defend the truth.
“We have to present the truth in the most effective way. I’m a rocker. Bruce Springsteen’s new song isn’t musically impressive. But it’s a beautiful anthem of solidarity.
“And then there’s what happened with Bad Bunny. He stood up for Latinos. He said their lives matter. And it really hurt Trump. He responded by saying it was a terrible show, a slap in the face to his country. If he weren’t so sinister, it would almost be comical.”
—What reactions has Trump provoked among the Cuban people?
“Trump has polarized us. He has radicalized us. He has made us more anti-imperialist, more anti-fascist.
“Venezuela was a devastating blow. We felt it as a very personal wound. As if it had been inflicted on us as well. But the way this country mourned our 32 brothers who died defending President Maduro was a tremendous message for Trump and Marco Rubio. It was a message of unity and resolve.
“The day the ballot boxes were set up at the Ministry of the Armed Forces, people filed in for hours. It was a cold, rainy day. And people didn’t leave the enormous lines. They brought their children and their elderly relatives. Everyone stood in that endless queue. Since Martí, we have held the idea that homeland is humanity. And that idea is deeply rooted in this nation.
“Our people have a sense of historical moment. They know when to demonstrate unity, resolve, dignity, love for sovereignty, and principles.”
” –How has this latest twist affected the cultural world?
–We are facing a brutal colonial coup, intended to bring about regime change. These are extremely difficult times. Hospitals and nursing homes are the ones running out of gasoline and oil. The Cuban people are the ones suffering.
“This moment reminds me of a line from Ivan Karamazov, the character in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel, who says: if God does not exist, everything is permitted. And since, for Trump, the only God that exists is himself, everything is permitted to him. It is the whims of a grotesque and brutal character that have placed us in a world without rules. He overturned the chessboard. There are no rules anymore.
“But there is a lot of history here, too much history. There is an anti-colonial and anti-imperialist culture. Cuba is a country with a very vigorous cultural force and a very strong national sentiment. Culture and nation go hand in hand. In artists, there is a very intimate patriotic feeling, associated with their way of understanding life. This is how they have expressed themselves.
“The significance of this moment is that we face the old dilemma: colony or sovereignty, colony or independence. And, for us, independence is synonymous with socialism. If we lose socialism, we lose the nation. If the revolution is defeated, we will return to the status of a humiliated and shameful Yankee colony, which is what we were more than 60 years ago. This country will never be that again.”
—How has this blockade affected artistic creation?
—Despite the blackouts, we held the Havana Film Festival with great success. The Jazz Festival took place, and many Americans attended. But we had to postpone the Book Fair. We will maintain the Casa de las Américas Prize, but the jury’s deliberations will be conducted online.
—You have insisted on the need to ally with the people of the United States. Is that still your position?
—There is an anti-fascist movement within the United States. And a message must be sent to the people who are fighting there. Fidel told Ramonet that when the people of the United States learned the truth about an event, they reacted nobly and justly. Fidel invited us to trust in the feelings and virtues of that people. Pablo González Casanova understood this very well. We must form an international anti-fascist front, relying on the Network of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of Humanity.
—What is Don Pablo’s relevance at a time like this?
—Pablo was the one who conceived of the Network. His ethical sense and lucidity went hand in hand. He was a brilliant man, with a keen eye for cultural, political, and historical processes, and with extraordinary ethics. We need him. We always need a man like Pablo. An extraordinary man.
“But let’s not forget that it’s not just Cuba that’s in danger. I think Latin America, the Caribbean, the world are in danger with this rise of fascism. They’re even trying to win over our memory. They want to whitewash the image of Franco, Hitler, Mussolini, those who committed the genocide of indigenous peoples.”
—Not even the dead are at peace?
—The battle is for the present and the future, and also for our memory.
—You’ve been labeled a Marxist-Lennonist. What do you think Lennon can tell us for a time like this?
—I adore Lenin, but I love the label of Marxist-Lennonist. The Beatle would have been a tireless anti-Trump activist. He was a great fighter against the genocide in Vietnam, a champion of peace. He left behind extraordinary songs against the warlords.”
—Which one do you prefer?
—Imagine. It’s a beautiful utopia.
[ SOURCE: cubainformacion.tv ]
