Caracas Chronicles

Today we “celebrate” the 60th anniversary of the assault on the Cuartel Moncada, which marked the beginning of the Cuban Revolution. Maduro is in Cuba, alongside Evo, Daniel Ortega, and that charming old man, Pepe Mujica. They are all there singing the praises of the Cuban Revolution.

And I ask: ¿hasta cuando vale?

How long will it be OK for people to talk up the Cuban Revolution as if the thousands of political prisoners, the lack of freedoms, the firing squads and all that … didn’t happen and don’t matter?

I get it. The Cubans need to build their myth and perpetuate it until the end of time. I understand that some people need to go up there and suck up some of the magic stemming from Fidel’s beard because … they don’t have magic of their own.

But where are the leaders calling their bluff? But must we keep silent and accept that the Cuban Revolution is some watershed moment for Latin American dignity? Where are the Latin American presidents denouncing this “celebration” for what it is – a grotesque spectacle that celebrates the lack of human rights in Cuba? Why isn’t Capriles – the Latin American politician with the most Tweitter followers – denouncing this lionization of barbarism?

I mean, seriously people. Every day that passes I am convinced that our collective continental misery is enmeshed in a shared ethical failure. It’s not that we’re economically poor – it’s that we live in moral misery.