April 20, 2006
Operation Fangio

A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann.

Antonio Mandiola, president of the Foundation named after the famous Argentinean racing driver, speaks highly of Arnol Rodríguez’s book.

By Rafael Pérez Valdés / rafael.p@granma.cip.cu 

It’s no mystery that Room 810 of the Lincoln Hotel is usually unoccupied: it was turned into a Museum to pay tribute to the Argentinean five-time world champion racing driver Juan Manuel Fangio, who was staying there the night he was abducted from the lobby on the evening of February 23, 1958, by a cell of the 26th of July Movement (M-26-7).

A few days ago the room was taken by Antonio Mandiola, president of the Foundation named after the noted pilot, who passed away in 1995. Mr. Mandiola traveled to Cuba to attend a presentation of the book Operation Fangio, an enthusiastic and thorough work made by Arnol Rodríguez, then M-26-7’s Head of Propaganda in Havana and leader of the group in charge of releasing Fangio.

The idea to write this seven-chapter, 250-plus-page book, which also includes valuable photographs, came from Faustino Pérez, M-26-7’s top leader in the capital city. It was the result of his personal experiences and long-lasting, careful research to produce special features like “How and why we kidnapped Fangio", where he describes the kind treatment of and good relations kept with the victim, even until the year of his death; the need to carry out the action and its widespread repercussions...

Mandiola and his wife, Liliana Moschetto, remove an old doubt: they were not superstitious about staying in Room 810, although they did lose sleep over it: "We had been invited by our friend Arnol Rodríguez, and the fact that we’d be in a totally new place to represent Fangio by telling how it all really happened in a wholly cultural event of so much consequence to one of his old kidnappers kept us awake at night."

He’s been president since 1997, after Juan Manuel Bordeu and Engineer Barragán, the current director of the Museum, which opened in 1986 and "has attained international renown".

Our Foundation is a nonprofit, absolutely altruistic entity we rule by vocation. It was Fangio’s brainchild to protect, preserve and increase as much as possible Argentina’s sport patrimony. It’s funded by the (affordable) entrance fee and the support provided by some enterprises, in addition to the money saved by the management”.

Why was Fangio so great?, we asked him.

“I think it’s because he grew up in a humble family of hard-working immigrants of sound family and human values. His father was a bricklayer, and his mother used to sew and embroider for a living...

"Fangio was brought up amid values and principles that we would like to instill in our youth and, well, without being overambitious, in every people who need their young to look up to those values. He suffered great hardship and always remained humble, courageous and extremely passionate. His passion is the same we have found these days in every Cuban we have talked with."

What did Fangio think of his kidnapping? “We learned from him the exact words he said the day his kidnappers released him: that if it had been for an important cause, as an Argentinean he agreed with the action. I think he understood his captors and accepted as a gentleman their good treatment and affection."

This and more is described in further detail in Operation Fangio, by Editorial Ciencias Sociales.

ORIGINAL:
http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/2006/04/20/cultura/artic02.html

---ooOoo---

From: NPV <nvaldes@unm.edu>
Sent: Jul 16, 2008 12:43 PM
To: Walter Lippmann <walterlx@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: GRANMA: Operation Fangio

Operation Fangio was unilaterally conceived, organized and executed by a small group of clandestine operatives that worked with Faustino Perez in the urban underground of the M-26-7 in Havana. The operation was NOT initiated, organized or executed by the Rebel Army led by Fidel Castro. This is an important point.

At the time, prior to April 1958, the so-called "llano" (or urban underground of the M-26-7) tried to take the political opposition leadership and initiative away from the "sierra" (the guerrillas). Thus, it is a mistake to assume that the Fangio’s abduction (which lasted just 24 hours) was connected to the Sierra Maestra guerrillas.

The only abduction that the Rebel Army ever carried out was done by Raúl Castro. However, Fidel Castro upon finding out about it immediately ordered his brother to release the Americans that had been taken hostage. The Rebel Army position on abduction and arrests of foreigners or anyone else was clearly stated by Fidel Castro on a number of occasions. On July 3, 1958 he stated,

"Today I have informed the international press and the United States government that in the general headquarters of the Rebel Army in the Sierra Maestra no report has been received on the case of North American citizens allegedly arrested. That zone of operations, which is situated one hundred miles away, has no radio transmitters, and if it is true that the United States citizens are being held by rebel forces their release will be ordered.... I have stated... that the 26th of July Movement is fighting for the respect of human rights. We believe that individual freedom is one of the inviolable rights of every human being and therefore no one should be arrested without a just cause..."

It is a mistake to attribute to Fidel Castro or to the Rebel Army the Fangio affair. That was an initiative of an urban underground in Havana that was not yet under the discipline of the Sierra Maestra revolutionaries.

Historical accuracy matters.


Nelson P Valdes
Cuba-L Direct

GRANMA
20 de Avril, 2006

http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/2006/04/20/cultura/artic02.html
Operación Fangio
Antonio Mandiola, presidente de la fundación que lleva el nombre del célebre automovilista argentino, ponderó el libro de Arnol Rodríguez

RAFAEL PÉREZ VALDÉS
rafael.p@granma.cip.cu 

La habitación 810 del hotel Lincoln suele permanecer sin huéspedes. Y no por un misterio: fue convertida en Museo, pues allí se alojó el automovilista argentino Juan Manuel Fangio, cinco veces campeón mundial, cuando fue secuestrado en el lobby la noche del 23 de febrero de 1958 por un grupo del Movimiento 26 de Julio (M-26-7).

Hace pocos días se alojó en ella Antonio Mandiola, presidente de la Fundación que lleva el nombre del célebre piloto (fallecido en 1995), quien viajó a Cuba para asistir a una de las presentaciones de la obra Operación Fangio, escrita con entusiasmo y dedicación por Arnol Rodríguez, entonces Jefe de Propaganda del M-26-7 en la capital, y jefe del comando encargado de la devolución del argentino.

El libro, detengámonos un momento, fue una idea, de Faustino Pérez, quien fuera el Jefe del 26 en la capital, consta de siete capítulos, poco más de 250 páginas, incluido valioso material fotográfico, y es el fruto no solo de vivencias de primera mano de los hechos, sino de una larga y cuidadosa investigación. Entre sus logros muestra "Cómo y por qué secuestramos a Fangio"; el trato cortés del grupo y las buenas relaciones mantenidas (incluso hasta 1995); la necesidad del operativo y su amplia repercusión...

Mandiola, y su esposa, Liliana Moschetto, nos aclaran una duda: no temieron mala suerte alguna en alojarse en la 810, aunque sí perdieron el sueño: "Habíamos sido invitados por un amigo como es Arnol Rodríguez y estar en un lugar absolutamente nuevo, el hecho de representar a Fangio, y en un hecho absolutamente cultural y trascendente para uno de sus antiguos secuestradores, como era presentar el libro contando la realidad de los hechos, nos impedía dormir."

Funge como presidente desde 1997, puesto en el que estuvieron antes Juan Manuel Bordeu, el ingeniero Barragán, quien ahora es el director del Museo, inaugurado en 1986, "el cual ha adquirido una enorme importancia".

La Fundación es "una entidad sin fines de lucro, nuestra actividad es absolutamente altruista, la hacemos por vocación. Fue creada en nuestro país por Fangio para proteger, preservar, en lo posible acrecentar, su patrimonio deportivo". Los fondos provienen del valor de las entradas (a precios módicos), y el apoyo de algunas empresas, además de una gran economía en la administración.

¿Por qué fue tan grande Fangio?, le preguntamos.

Cree que fue porque se desarrolló en una humilde familia de inmigrantes con mucho trabajo, y con unos valores familiares, humanos; el padre era albañil, y la madre bordaba, cosía...

"En esa cuna de valores se formó Fangio, que son los valores que a nosotros nos interesa transmitir a la juventud de nuestro pueblo, y, bueno, sin ser demasiado ambiciosos, a aquellos pueblos que necesitan sus jóvenes permanezcan en esa escala de valores. Él se forjó en la vida con muchísimo trabajo, con humildad, sencillez, coraje, y muchísima pasión. Es la misma pasión que hemos descubierto estos días en cada uno de los cubanos con los que hemos hablado."

¿Qué pensaba Fangio del secuestro? "Nos transmitió exactamente lo que dijo el día que lo liberaron sus secuestradores: que si esto era por una causa importante, él, como argentino, estaba de acuerdo. Creo que comprendió algunas necesidades de sus captores y aceptó con absoluta hidalguía su buen trato, el cariño que le profesaron."

Esas cosas se explican muy bien en el libro Operación Fangio, de la Editorial Ciencias Sociales.