Rome – Following the handover of Fidel Castro and Raul Castro, rumors have resurfaced that the leader's brother is gay. A curious appeal by the sports director even appeared in La Repubblica. Franco Grillini, Arcigay representative: "If Raul is gay, he should admit it and improve the situation of homosexuals in Cuba." The issue is highly controversial, however, as there is not a shred of evidence, only rumors. The alleged rumors also seem all the more absurd considering that Raul has been happily married to his beloved wife, Vilma Espin Gullois, for 45 years. Together, they have four children.
However, if it were true, a blatant contradiction would emerge between Raul's conduct and the repression, organized by himself, of Cuban gays, locked up in the so-called UMAPs, in practice the Castro equivalent of the well-known Soviet gulags.
Another contradiction, however, needs no confirmation: the one within left-wing ideology, which throughout its history has leapt from the repression of gays to exaggerations in the opposite direction, such as advocating for marriage and adoption.
Let's hear what the historian says Massimo Consoli, specialist in the field.
– Mr. Consoli, how well-founded are the rumors that Raul is homosexual?
«We're stuck with gossip and rumors. Among the sources, we can mention Allen Young in his book "Gay Under the Revolution." But above all, the writer Allen Ginsberg, who was invited to Havana in 1965 because he sympathized with the revolution. Yet, in an interview on Cuban TV, he openly said that Raul was homosexual, resulting in his immediate expulsion from the island.
– Indeed, the Cuban revolution always dismissed gays as antisocial elements, imprisoning them alongside their opponents. What can you tell us about the repressive apparatus organized by Raul Castro himself?
Raul Castro
«In practice, it was all based on forced labor. The influence of the Soviets was crucial. Raul himself went to Bulgaria in the 1960s to learn from that communist regime the most effective methods of repression. He wanted to know how the Bulgarians had cleared the streets of Sofia of gays. Thus, the UMAPs, an acronym for Unitades Militares de Aid a la Produccion, were born in Cuba. They gathered together all those "accusados de ser vagos," that is, those accused of being vague. This expression meant deviants, asocial people in general and even gays. Many of the interned homosexuals came from the world of art and entertainment, particularly ballet. They were all forced to work in the fields, cutting sugar cane for hours under the sun. The Cuban situation prior to the revolution also contributed to pushing Fidel Castro in this direction. Under the Batista regime the island was the brothel of the Americans, who sometimes lured not only girls, but also boys. After Castro's victory, the women were rescued, but the men were considered guilty. Homosexuality as such was essentially confused with male prostitution.
By 1965, a few years after the revolution, the UMAPs were already holding around 45,000 prisoners in numerous isolated farms. And you could end up there even through anonymous denunciations. A priest who sympathized with the regime, Ernesto Cardenal, reported the paradoxical testimony of a Cuban Catholic named Eugenio, according to whom, after all, the UMAPs weren't so bad. According to him, but I don't believe it at all, homosexuals were particularly happy in the concentration camps because "being so concentrated must be paradise for them." There, homosexuals would become even "more homosexual," and many began "painting their faces." In reality, one witnessed horrible scenes, because’ many committed suicide by hanging themselves, a sign that they must not have been happy at all. Furthermore, the Cuban armed forces were subject to strict controls, because the personal documents of soldiers suspected of being homosexual were stamped with the acronym "B1," which meant that the soldier might exhibit effeminate behavior.
The Cuban authorities have obviously always denied everything. But I want to point out that this reality was well known to Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, who protested against the dictator during a dinner with Castro. He reproached him that such a policy toward gays was unworthy of a socialist revolution.
– But what was known about all this in Italy?
«"Little or nothing. I was among the first, in the 1970s, to denounce this side of Castroism. I submitted a report to "Speciale," directed by Rosanna Guerrini. She wanted to publish my article, but her editor-in-chief, who was a communist, was against it. Many other newspapers, like "Il Messaggero," rejected it. The first who managed to talk about the UMAPs was Valerio Riva on “L'Espresso”. Then Pierre Golendorf's book came out “A communist prisoner of Castro”, published in Milan by SugarCo in 1978. Today everyone says that Castro is bad, but back then it was a different story..."»
– Finally, how do you comment on Grillini's appeal to Raul Castro?
«"Those in power wouldn't dream of coming out as homosexual or helping gays.".
However, the idea of Raul Castro being gay still seems so absurd to us…
From "La Padania" of August 3, 2006