"Memory of Fire: Bringing
Embers of Hiroshima to Cuba" was produced by (Hiroshima
Home TV) and first broadcast in 2007. The documentary tells the
story of Ernesto Che Guevara's thoughts on Hiroshima and their
relation to the Cuban Revolution's commitment to humanism, for
example, its humanitarian aid and protection of the
environment. At the same time, it follows the delegates from (Atena
Japan), a Japanese NGO, bringing the embers of Hiroshima to Cuba
(which will be kept in a memorial designed by
Nelson Domínguez in Cuba's
John Lennon Park).
Che headed the Cuban delegation
to Asia and Africa in 1959. During the delegation's visit to
Japan, Che requested that they be allowed to go to Hiroshima,
the requested turned down by the Japanese government on the
grounds that it wasn't listed on the delegation's itinerary.
(Omar Fernández, who was with Guevara on the delegation, wonders
if the denial wasn't actually due to Tokyo's desire not to call
attention to the US war crimes.1)
Undaunted, Che, with two other delegates, jumped on a night
train and visited Hiroshima on 25 July 1959 without telling the
Japanese government. What Che saw, some of which was published
in his article
"Recuperase Japón de la tragedia atomica" (Verde Olivo,
19 October 1959), became part of the Cuban memory of Hiroshima.
Che also strongly recommended
that Fidel Castro himself visit Hiroshima, which Fidel did in
2003. Fidel's 2003 visit, too, is part of this fascinating
documentary.
In May this year, Atena Japan,
together with other activist NGOs, brought
Aleida Guevara to Japan, to celebrate (A Little Country
Working Great Miracles). The people of Japan have much to learn
from Cuban environmentalism as they confront their government
bent on becoming a plutonium superpower.2
Notes
1 Former Defense Minister of Japan Kyuma Fumio memorably
said in 2007 that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
were "shoganai" (couldn't have been helped), for the bombings
were "necessary" to end the war before a Soviet invasion of
Japan!
It's common for the power elites to defend their own war
crimes or their predecessors', but rare are those who so openly
defend a foreign power's war crimes against "their own
people." Only in Japan?
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