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By Hector Igarza, Cuban ambassador in France. Special for Trabajadores Neswpaper
A week ago we were celebrating another anniversary of the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution, but not as we are used to. The three Cuban Heroes antiterrorist fighters that were held in the United States (U.S.) were back to the Homeland some weeks before.
We asked the Honor President from Cubasi France, an organization that for 16 years has leaded the battle for the release of the Cuban Five, Rene, Fernando, Antonio, Ramon and Gerardo, to draw us a caricature for the postcard that the Cuban Embassy in France would deliver for the celebration of the 57 anniversary of the Revolution. George Wolinski, one of the caricaturists, murdered by terrorist bullets on January 7 in the Magazine Charlie Hebdo, accepted to do it and we sent him the text. It was a paragraph written by Jose Marti in 1894 that seemed to be the ideal one for its validity: “A mistake in Cuba is a mistake in Latin America, is a mistake in modern humanity. Those who wake up today together with Cuba do it for forever.”
The rest was for Wolinski and his anxious paintbrushes. In the bottom of the card he made a caricature of Marti from the bust he had on his private desk at work. There were two young girls taken by their hands dancing each of them lifting their respective flags and demonstration of friendship between our peoples, as if they were singing the The Marseilles and The Bayamese.
An additional symbol: the two flags have the same colors red, white and blue.
Four of the 13 casualties from the terrorist attack on January 7 against Charlie Hebdo in Paris were irreverent comic book artists. Any religion, political party or president could be object of their satires, sometimes hurtful, but in any way a motive to murder.
Stephane Charbonnier, known as Charb, director of this publication since 2009, had also drawn postcards for the Cuban Embassy in Paris. He was 47 years old. In the first photos that are shown on television after he was murdered, there is a Cuban flag in his office. His closing in the magazine was titled: “Charb does not like people,” and once without knowing he was doing it, he wrote his epitaph: “I have neither wife nor car, and I prefer to die standing up than living on my knees.”
Jean Cabu, founder of Grand Duduche character was one of the co-founders of Charlie Hebdo. He was 76 years old.
Bernard Verlhac, known as Tignous was 57 years old. His cartoons were also in publications like Marianne and Fluide Glacial.
Wolinski was co-founder and the veteran of the group. He was born in Tunis 80 years ago. His jobs started to be published on May 1968 in the most revolutionary newspaper of the modern France. Among others he published in Le Nouvel Observateur and Paris Match, and his cartoons appeared in many publishing companies.
Among the murdered people there is Bernard Maris (68), another of the co-founders and deputy director of the weekly edition until 2008, specialized on economic articles. He was still publishing with the pen name Uncle Bernard.
Charlie Bouhana, president of Cubasi Francia, close friend of Wolinski and as he was, a sardonic man of death and lover of the social satires, asserts that the caricature devoted to the Cuban Revolution is the last one done in his life.
He also stresses that the lunch pending to thank Wolinski for his card; we should have it at restaurant Chez Boboss, where we had enjoyed a good meal before with excellent service.
“We could consider it”, Charlie says, “as his last dinner.”
