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Gusano (lit. worm, fem. gusana)[1][2] is a slur used to refer to Cubans who fled Cuba following the rise of Fidel Castro after the Cuban Revolution.[3][4] The term has connotations referring to the Cuban revolution's Marxist political philosophy in which the use of the term "worm" can imply a parasitic relationship to the working class. Traditionally capitalist economic roles, such as that of a landlord or plantation owner, especially within the Cuban political context of American corporate plantation ownership are considered "parasitic" under this Marxist model, like some worms.
Origins
Cuba experienced several waves of emigration after the revolution, with political dissidents and wealthy Cubans leaving in the first waves during the 1960s. By 1962, over 200,000 had already left the country.[5] The number increased to 500,000 by the beginning of 1969.[6] During the 1990s, many poorer Cubans left due to economic stagnation, especially following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Out of these exiles, the first waves of exiles in the 1960s first bore the term gusano.[7] By the 1960s and 1970s, Castro and his supporters had widely adopted the term in speeches and discussion to refer to Cubans that have fled the country, as well as the Cubans that applied to leave.[8][9] The term supposedly originated in a 1961 speech that Castro gave where he discussed "shaking the rotten tree, and the gusanos will drop out",[10] in reference to the counter-revolutionaries. Many chants would evolve from the phrase, such as "Con saya o pantalón, gusanos al paredón." (If wearing skirts or if wearing pants, gusanos [will turn] towards the wall [to be executed]).[11]
During the first wave of exodus from Cuba, reports came out from the Havana Airport stated that insults towards gusanos were being blared from the loudspeakers by airport officials.[12]
To a lesser extent, many Cubans who stayed in the country, but were against the revolution, adopted the label as a badge of honor (or a symbol of oppression),[13] referring to themselves as gusano or gusana to state their dissatisfaction with the Castro regime.[14][15][16][17] Despite that fact, many pieces of Cuban propaganda contained imagery of the gusano and the desire to crush anti-revolutionaries.[18] In response, anti-revolutionaries began distributing "gusano leaflets" with political cartoons involving worms.[19] Throughout the years of Cuban exile, many alleged raids and attacks by defectors from Cuba, according to the AP, were utilized by Castro in propaganda to further strengthen their position as an enemy of the current Government.[20] Throughout the 1960s, reports came out of the Cuban government encouraging public attacks of people branded with the label.[21]
Usage in post-revolution Cuba
In the 1960s, the Cuban state-run newspaper, Revolución, had a daily column which featured political cartoons that featured drawings of worms, paired with a list of activities of Cubans in exile. In response, many self-identified gusanos bought and sold keyrings with worms on them to demonstrate pride in the label.[citation needed]
The military fort, Castillo del Príncipe, was used in the 1960s to house political prisoners of Castro that had been captured. Their wives would frequent the establishment in hopes to see their husbands and sons, and due to the large amount of anti-revolutionary women loitering around, the prison became colloquially known as La Gusaneria.[22]
By 1961, several thousand Cubans were employed at The United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. They were referred to as gusanos by the public. This exists as an early example of Cubans being assigned the term who were not necessarily anti-revolutionary or in exile.[23][24][25]
The term was also prevalent in hate crimes against anti-revolutionary Cubans. In September or October 1961, over the course of a week, 12 deceased bodies were discovered over Havana with notes attached to them that said "gusanos with pro-revolutionary [ideologies], CIA agents, who tried to escape to the United States."[26] In a mass-jailing of political dissidents in 1961, Castro's regime used defunct sewers as prisons for accused anti-revolutionaries. In one of the sewers, a Canadian priest who had been imprisoned dressed an icon in a dress and called her "The Virgin of the Gusanos".[27]
During the 1962 wildfires that destroyed sugarcane plantations, locals in Cubas were reported saying that "gusanos have infiltrated the canefields."[28] This led to quick military tribunals resulting in death by firing squad for "gusanos" who sought to destroy Cuban farms.[29] In a 1961 speech in Santiago de Cuba, Raúl Castro said, "Our motherland will be attacked again by those gusanos allied with [American] imperialism, who will try to bring back all the bad things that the revolution is dominating. Our country will [be prepared] to eliminate them."[30] Vigilante groups were formed for people to report their neighbors for "anti-revolutionary behavior", labelling them gusanos. According to Miami Herald report Al Burt, the government could detain such people arbirtrarily. [31][32] Imprisoned political dissidents awaiting trial are recorded to have carved Soy Gusano on their jail cells.[33]
In an interview with the Tampa Tribune, Cuban professional boxer Luis Manuel Rodríguez, who had supported the Batista regime, recalled a time when a Cuban soldier came up to him with a machine gun, called him a gusano, and put a threat on his life.[34]
Anyone who was accused or revealed to be building a stockpile of food outside of government rations were also labeled gusanos.[35] The 20 and 25 Centavo coins were given gusano as a nickname due to a shortage of the coins that was rumored to be caused by anti-revolutionaries hoarding them for personal use.[36] Many in the late 1960s who applied to leave the country were forced to work farms as gusano laborers before their departure was approved by the Cuban government.[37] According to British reporter Michael Frayn of the London Observer, in 1969, there were as many as 200,000 laborers working in the agricultural camps at any given point, and that only a quarter could expect to be granted leave by the end of the year.[38]
In 2021 Cubans who attended an anti-government protest in Matanzas in response to the governments handling of coronavirus, energy shortages and the economy, were detained and interrogated in a local facility called "Técnico" run by Cuba's state security services. While detained a man, Michel Parra was beaten with a baton, repeatedly called a gusano and threatened to have he and his family shot.[39]
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The use of the word was exacerbated by the Bay of Pigs Invasion, when many Cuban dissidents were taken prisoner by Castro's government. The term then began to develop heavier connotations with the portrayal of dissidents as "American puppets".[40] In May 1961, that stigma continued when a state-run radio station called Costa Rican politicians gusanos in response to a call from their government urging the OAS to take action against the Cuban government.[41] Over 1,000 men were captured during the invasion, and Castro issued a ransom to the United States, saying "Si los imperialistas no quieren que sus gusanos trabajen, que los cambien por tractores." (If the imperialist [Americans] do not want their [prisoners] (gusanos) to labor, let them be exchanged for tractors).[42]
The invasion sparked mass hysteria among revolutionaries, who locked up between 150,000 and 200,000 Cuban citizens who were accused of being gusanos. Many public buildings, such as the Sports City building, were converted into makeshift prisons to hold all the detainees.[43]
In relation to the anti-American and anti-revolutionary ties, the term was stigmatized further upon the labelling of terrorists as gusanos who sought to destroy the country. In November 1961, Pedro Arias Hernandez, who was stationed at Guanabacoa's Nico Lopez Refinery, was killed when 3 people attacked the state-run business. The killers were labelled gusanos by the media, and were accused of working for the CIA.[44] Many protests, including demonstrations against the famine, unrelated to Socialism directly, had their protestors classified as gusanos. In 1962, Castro said that "those gusanos must be stopped. The street belongs to us, the gusano parlachin, the quintacolumnista must be punished physically, but without taking him to the wall. Now, if they engage in sabotage, that is another matter..."[45]
Usage in the United States
Starting as early as the late 1950s, after the settlement of the Cuban diaspora, large portions of Cubans settled in Florida, and specifically in Miami. Florida's proximity to Cuba naturally led to a large influx of Cubans in the region, hence, much of the use of the word gusano was found in those areas with a high concentration of Cubans.
In 1970, Spanish Tampa newspaper El Sol received messages from pro-Castro Cubans who threatened the paper's advertisers, saying "Merchants who advertise in El Sol sink to the level of gusanos, and will be boycotted if they persist, [be] warned."[46]
Evidence of usage of the word towards the religious was shown in the same year, when Hispanic Chicago street gang, The Young Lords, referred to the First Spanish United Methodist Church congregation as being a gusano establishment.[47]
In a piece called Intolerancia, Miami Herald writer Roberto Luque Escalona describes his frustration with the term, with it being prevalent among supporters of Castro and often targeted at Cuban entrepreneurs in Florida. Escalona showed an example of the caricature of la gusanera de Miami, with a stigma being attached to Cubans who moved to Florida and make their own livings under private enterprises, compared to the government-run economy of Cuba.[48][citation needed]
In modern times Gusano has been used as a slur against Latinos, Cuban Americans and Cubans by non-Cuban Latinos sympathetic to the Cuban government to target Cuban exiles and their descendants.[49] The word has also been used by online radical far-left groups on websites such as Reddit[50][51] or Twitter.[52][53] The modern usage intent of the slur has been used to question the "authenticity" of someone as a Cuban or part of the wider Cuban community based on their ethnicity and ideological support, mainly anti-communism.[54]
Other usage
The use of the term is not only limited to Cuba and Cubans. In 1962, The Chilean state-run press accused "Cuban gusanos in Miami" of having planned an attempt on the life of then-president Jorge Alessandri during his stopover in Washington, D.C. on December 10.[55]
During the late 1960s, former Bolivian Minister of the Interior Antonio Arguedas gave press interviews following his involvement in the publication of Che Guevara's diary in late 1967. He reported that prior to his fleeing of Bolivia to Chile, it was a common occurrence in the Bolivian Cabinet to refer to their Cuban colleagues in exile as gusanos.[56]
References
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- ^ Burt, Al (12 November 1965). "Cuba's Education Minister is Former 'Tramp Athlete'". The Miami Herald. Havana. pp. 1, 28. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Arpy, Jim (26 January 1962). "Life in Davenport Still an Ordeal for Cuban Refugees". Quad-City Times. pp. 1, 3. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Moorhouse, Geoffrey (1 February 1970). "World of Cuban Exiles". San Francisco Examiner. p. 168. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Scott, Jack (6 June 1962). "Havana News". Vancouver Sun. p. 25. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Lust, Peter (21 June 1969). "Cuba - the most communized of the socialist countries". The Gazette. p. 8. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Cuban Exiles in America | American Experience". PBS. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
- ^ Taylor, Henry J. (3 March 1971). "Work Decree Imposed by Castro". Urbana Daily Citizen. p. 20. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Scott, Jack (30 May 1962). "Aware of Challenge". Vancouver Sun. p. 3. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Why Soviet Aid Failed To Stave Off Chaos". The Ottawa Citizen. 8 December 1962. p. 99. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Solar, Tony (12 December 1961). "Perfil del Día" [Pardon of the Day]. The Miami News. Washington. p. 9. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Geyer, Georgie Anne (14 September 1966). "It's Not a Bad Life for 'New Class' in Cuba". The Kansas City Star. Manzanillo, Cuba. p. 8. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Rosenblum, Mort (27 July 1966). "Many Cubans in New Jersey Make Exile Permanent". The Tampa Tribune. Elizabeth, New Jersey. p. 15. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Hendrix, Hal (16 April 1962). "The Proud Little Worms". The Miami News. p. 14. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Lawrence, David (1 November 1962). "Kennedy Throwing Away U.S. Chance in Cuba". The Times. Washington. p. 10. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ de Gramont, Sanche (18 September 1963). "Those Little Rubs that Make the Soviets Unpopular: The Glory of Gusanos". The Miami News. p. 6. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Cuba Atom Sub Base Attack Told". The Spokesman-Review. Mexico City. AP. 23 May 1964. p. 7. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Rosenbluth, Dave (11 September 1962). "How is it on Tour in Cuba Today?". Newsday. p. 76. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Cuban 'Worm' turns into hero". The Miami News. 23 May 1963. p. 11. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Observers Say Cuban Exile Raids Only Bolster Castro". Journal & Courier. Havana. AP. 2 March 1967. p. 7. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Wheeler, Fenton (26 December 1968). "Castro's Gains, Losses Weighed". Asbury Park Press. Havana. AP. p. 10. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Bland, John (12 April 1962). "'Gusano' New Nickname for Anti-Castro Cubans". The Montreal Star. Havana. Reuters. p. 19. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Lane, Clarence (12 December 1961). "Castro Purloins 75% of Gitmo Workers' Salary". The Virginian-Pilot. U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. p. 34. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ House, Charles (21 November 1962). "Evaluation of Cuban Employee at Naval Base No Easy Task". The Post-Crescent. Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. p. 19. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Vinciguerra, Tom (25 January 1966). "Navy Base Cubans Outcasts in Village". Fort Lauderdale News. Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. pp. 9, 10. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Rivero, Raul (19 October 1961). "Asesinan a 12 en Cuba" [12 Killed in Cuba]. The Miami Herald. p. 42. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Martinez, William (2 May 1961). "Castro Jamming Prisoners in Sewers, Says Fugitive". The Miami Herald. p. 32. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Sabotage fires glare in Cuban sugar fields". The Province. Havana. Reuters. 25 April 1962. p. 8. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Hendrix, Hal (24 April 1962). "Fires Warm Fidel's Woes". The Miami News. p. 10. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Rivero, Raul (17 October 1961). "Desafio Castrista" [Castro's Challenge]. The Miami Herald. p. 18. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Burt, Al (23 March 1965). "Nothing Escapes the Eyes or Ears of Castro's Vigilant Defense Committees". The Reporter Dispatch. Havana. CDN. p. 4. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Burt, Al (8 March 1965). "Cubans Live on the Whims of Fidel Vigilante Groups". The Miami Herald. Havana. pp. 1, 20. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Bonafede, Dom (22 March 1962). "Letters Tell Grim Existence as Prisoners Await Trial". Des Moines Tribune. Miami, Florida. pp. 1, 7. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ McEwen, Tom (20 April 1965). "Ferdinand with Boxing Gloves". The Tampa Tribune. p. 42. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Berlitz, Charles F.; Strumpen-Darrie, Robert (7 August 1962). "Languages in the News". Morristown Gazette Mail. p. 5. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Coin Switch Set". The Spokesman-Review. Havana. Reuters. 15 March 1962. p. 18. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Cuba Puts 'Refugees' to Work". Orlando Evening Star. Miami. AP. 8 August 1968. p. 6. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Frayn, Michael (2 February 1969). "Cuban Army Everywhere; Revolutionists Still Active". The Spokesman-Review. Havana. p. 16. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Faiola, Anthony (18 October 2021). "Stripped naked, beaten, forced to shout 'Viva Fidel!': Inside Cuba's crackdown on dissent". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
- ^ Bonafede, Dom (25 December 1962). "Air Cover Might Have Helped Us, Invader Says". The Miami Herald. p. 54. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Demora Repatriacion: Perfil del Día" [Repatration Backlog: Currents]. The Miami News. 10 May 1961. p. 12. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Fidel Ofrece Cajear Mil Presos Por 500 Tractores" [Fidel Offers to Trade 1,000 Prisoners for 500 Tractors]. The Miami Herald. 19 May 1961. p. 38. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Burt, Al (8 March 1965). "Cubans Live on the Whims of Fidel Vigilante Groups". The Miami Herald. Havana. pp. 132, 139. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Paul, Rivero (15 November 1961). "Atentado en Cuba" [Attack in Cuba]. The Miami Herald. p. 24. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Soler, Frank R. (27 July 1962). "Predice Castro Invasion" [Castro Invasion Predicted]. The Miami Herald. p. 27. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Alarcon, Daniel (20 August 1970). "Anti-Castro newspaper harassed". The Tampa Times. p. 8. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Mullen, Donald E (4 February 1970). "Militant Group Tries to Take Over Church in Harlem". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. p. 22. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Luque Escalona, Roberto (20 July 1996). "Intolerancia" [Intolerance]. El Nuevo Herald. p. 14. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Castro's controversial life necessitates informed critique". The Miscellany News. 30 November 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
- ^ "Have you ever heard "gusano" as a slur?". Reddit. 26 August 2021. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
- ^ "Just a reminder that dehumanizing slurs like "gusano" aren't allowed on this sub". Reddit - Cuba Subreddit. 11 March 2024. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
- ^ "hayat ★ حياة on X: "the tip of Aaron's shoelace is worth more than your entire pathetic life, dirty gusano" / X". Twitter / X. 28 February 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
- ^ "sham on X: "Dirty gusano cunt" / X". Twitter / X. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
- ^ Sandoval, Dave (8 May 2015). "OPINION: Why 'Gusano' Is an Ethnic Slur". Latino Rebels. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
- ^ Marinez Barraque, Carlos (21 December 1962). "La Pensa Chilena" [The Chilean Press]. The Miami Herald (in Spanish). p. 33. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Gott, Richard (15 March 1969). "Late of the CIA". The Guardian. p. 10. Retrieved 9 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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