A final farewell to Walterio Carbonell
By: María Ileana Faguaga Iglesias (for Monitor)
A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann. This was received from one of the daily bulletins sent out by the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. It's datelined in Havana, but it's not from any of the official Cuban institutions. This is all I know about it.
Havana, Monday April 14, 2008.- African-Cuban historian and anti-colonialist fighter Walterio Carbonell, a full-blown socialist consistently committed to his race, his nation, his profession and his political ideas, died today at the age of 88, leaving us the grief of his loss and the sorrow over our failure to appraise him as he deserved.
Around 50 people, including friends, colleagues, neighbors and disciples, joined the funeral procession to the Columbus Cemetery in Havana, where he received the last sacraments at his family’s request, according to a bereaved friend.
Among the attendants were Fernando Rojas, Deputy minister of Culture; historian Eliades Acosta, former director of the ‘José Martí’ National Library and presently a member of the Culture Division in the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party; filmmaker, researcher and writer Tato Quiñonez; and University professor and Political Scientist Dr. Esteban Morales, who delivered the eulogy.
Standing out from many other wreaths were those sent by ex-president Fidel Castro, who met the deceased in their younger days, and current president Gen. Raúl Castro.
The ceremony was covered by the mass media –including Cuban TV– even if not all their representatives were fully aware of the significance and personal status of the deceased intellectual.
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DEFINITIVA DESPEDIDA A WALTERIO CARBONELL
Por: María Ileana Faguaga Iglesias (Para Monitor)
La Habana, lunes 14 de Abril de 2008.- Esta tarde enterramos a Walterio Carbonell. Historiador afrocubano, socialista convencido, cubano consecuentemente comprometido con su raza, con su nación, con su profesión y con sus ideas políticas, luchador anticolonialista, que falleció a los 88 años dejando tras de sí el dolor por la pérdida y por no haberle valorado a tiempo.
Unas 50 personas, entre familiares, amigos, colegas, vecinos y discípulos, acompañamos su féretro en el habanero Cementerio de Colón, donde antes del entierro recibió el ceremonial católico, según dijera un amigo de Walterio, por solicitud de sus familiares.
El vice ministro del Ministerio de Cultura, Fernando Rojas; el historiador, ex director de la Biblioteca Nacional José Martí y actualmente miembro del Departamento de Cultura del Comité Central del Partido Comunista de Cuba, Eliades Acosta; el cineasta, investigador y escritor Tato Quiñónez, participaron del ceremonial, cuyas palabras finales estuvieron a cargo del Dr. Esteban Morales.
Coronas enviadas por el convaleciente ex presidente cubano Fidel Castro, de quien fuera amigo en su juventud, y del actual presidente, el general de ejercito Raúl Castro, destacaban entre las muchas enviadas.
Medios de la prensa nacional, incluida la televisión, estuvieron presentes, aunque no todos sus representantes tenían conciencia de la importancia y representatividad del intelectual al que despedíamos.