The Spanish Royals in Havana
By Miguel Arias Sanchez
HAVANA TIMES – I really didn’t believe it, the king and queen of Spain came to Cuba to fulfill a busy program.
In 1979, King Juan Carlos and Sofia visited Cuba during the 6th Summit of non-aligned countries. It’s been almost three years since Juan Carlos returned to our country to participate in the activities for the death of Fidel. And more recently Spanish president Pedro Sanchez came.
Relations with Spain, dating from 1902, have been generally favorable. The only exception being when the government of Jose Maria Aznar was about to break relations due to very deep discrepancies.
Today Cuba and Spain are excellent partners in different economic and cultural areas. They are joined by very strong ties of our ancestors. Many Cubans are children or grandchildren of Spaniards who entered our country fleeing war and military service. Many settled here including my father.
When he was only eight years old, an older uncle brought him to Cuba. After several years together, my uncle returned to his homeland, and my father, alone, started to work and made his way as he could, luckily a family from Camaguey sponsored him.
He finally married a Cuban and formed his family.
Fidel Castro’s father was from Galicia. José Martí’s from Valencia, and the list is endless. The Spanish blood in our roots is also joined by language, culture, customs, traditions, etc.There is much love here for the Spanish people, and today thousands of us benefit from these excellent relations between the two countries.
However, it must be said, not everything that links us to Spain has been good, there is also suffering, colonization and barbarism, although that is not what stood out with this visit of the Royals. It seems that their gift of 57 million euros could forgive everything. Another Spanish person said it before: Don Dinero is a powerful gentleman.
There are so many Cubans without a drop of Spanish blood in their roots. Successive Cuban governments financed Spanish Catholics to immigrate – even adding to the financial rewards for each slave they used. Why did they do so? Because they were frightened that the number of blacks might exceed the white Spanish Catholic population – that is a matter of recorded history. The current regime even has the gall to put in its official statistics that only 9.9% of Cubans are black.
Spain only ever plundered – that is their history throughout their former colonies. A quick examination of the GDP’s of those countries demonstrates the consequences which have resulted in political extremism of both left and right which bedevil their societies.
It is a rather weird reaction to welcome the Monarch of that pillaging country, which was the very cause of the revolutions of Cespedes, Agramonte, Marti and Maceo. I recognize that Miguel Arias as one of Spanish blood enjoys the culture, customs and traditions of Spain, but careful selection is required for they include bull and cock fighting, callous indifference to animal welfare as they “have no soul”, and those political extremes.