Camilo Cienfuegos, Nowhere to be Found / 14ymedio

Each October 28 the commemoration of Camilo Cienfuegos has become a tradition in primary schools across Cuba. (14ymedio)
Each October 28 the commemoration of Camilo Cienfuegos has become a tradition in primary schools across Cuba. (14ymedio)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 28 October 2016 – Every October 28 the action is repeated, already converted into a tradition in the elementary schools throughout the country. Children bring flowers to their classrooms and from there leave to through them into the sea as a reminder of Commander Camilo Cienfuegos, who disappeared in 1959 in strange circumstances. Over time, the historical details have become blurred, the official version of events has become highly schematic, while students made comparisons or ask uncomfortable questions.

This morning, at a school in Havana, a preschool teacher tried to explain to her five-year-old students that “the Gentleman of the Vanguard” was lost at sea and they never found “anything at all” of him, not a single trace. The response of one of the little children disconcerted the energetic teacher, “Yes, teacher, I was at the beach once with my cousin and he lost a toy in the water that never came back… we looked everywhere and we never never found it.”

For new generations of Cubans, Camilo is that gentleman of the big hat and diaphanous laughter… of whom there is “nothing, nothing” left.