In a column published by the media outlet Prensa Comunitaria, the 1991 Miguel Angel Asturias National Literature Prize winner emphasized the imperial dimension of the northern country, likely assumed during the War of Independence that the island waged against Spain.

The truth is that, under the pretext of a terrorist attack (nothing new under the sun), the United States intervened in Cuba against the Spanish and quickly subdued the colonial army, recalled one of the country’s prominent literary critics and academics.

Perhaps that is why the triumph of the Revolution in 1959 had a significance and symbolic weight that endures to this day, he acknowledged. That island has held a special place in the Hispanic imagination, he added.

He also highlighted Cuba’s great musical output, which has influenced the entire continent; its powerful radio and television broadcasting, with variety shows and soap operas that aired throughout the Americas.

What the Cuban Revolution represented for other Latin American countries is based on that strength; it was, at the time, a beacon of hope for liberation from subservience to the United States, Liano noted.

Like all symbols, it survives contingent realities. There is great continental sympathy toward Cuba and Cubans. One can only hope that they, on their own, overcome the difficulties they are facing, he concluded. This, he finished, without needing to add yet another U.S. invasion to the list of humiliations and disgraces.

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