On the staircase, made of old cedar, the heartbeat of the bell ringer Cuco Pasamontes’ footsteps still grows. Conjuring his footprints, María Antonieta Jiménez, or better, Ñeñeca, and I finished the tower of the Parroquial Mayor. Upon the arrival of the intruders, a flock of totís stampedes. I cross my fingers. Below, the town feeds its morning.
The air restores breath, gives confessions. In 2006 this woman was named City Historian. “After Catalina, there is only heritage.” She talks about her daughter, a law graduate. When she was born, faced with the uncertainty of an initial diagnosis, Ñeñeca went to a hospital in the capital. “Her daughter suffers from achondroplastic dwarfism,” the doctor clarified. “And you’re not impressed?” the doctor added, amazed. “I asked to have a son, I didn’t ask to have him six feet and three inches,” the mother responded.
Why History and not Medicine or Law in your professional career?
Although there are several Law and Medical professionals in my family, I leaned towards History, because I had uncles who always taught me to love it; They greatly loved the historical part of Sancti Spíritus. I grew up in that environment, and when I was eight years old, an aunt’s husband gave me Manuel Martínez-Moles’ book Epitome of the history of Sancti Spíritus.
What justifies your affinity towards the figure of José Miguel Gómez?
It will be because I was born in his birthplace; There was the Sancti Spiritus medical cooperative. I adore his figure because he is handsome, because of what he did in El Jíbaro. When he took it in 1898 and confronted the Americans who raised the American flag, he had it taken down and the Cuban one raised.
What did your religious training bring you in life?
A lot, I learned very good ethical principles at the nuns’ school; those things that taught me not to steal, not to kill…; I also adore the figure of Christ, because of his love for the poor, for principles.
To what extent did coming from a wealthy family, before the triumph of the Revolution, fuel prejudices and misunderstandings towards you?
Imagine! For that reason, for some, I was a bitonga girl; For others, a denaturalized communist who didn’t love my family. Look at how many things they played there, and in reality I defended my principles and I defend them, with respect for everyone.
Some call her extremist in her defense of conservation and restoration policy.
I am not an extremist. I respect, above all, the sacred things of heritage. Whoever tells me that he is going to do something against the Greater Church tells me gravel with him tooth and nail, the same as at the top of the Market Square, with that fabulous Moorish roof it has. Now, if you tell me that at the back of the plaza, where the sales booths are, they are going to make a sloping concrete roof, covered with tiles, I am willing to debate that, with a Monument commission.
How many brawls, to put it euphemistically—troubles, the Cuban would say—have been sought in defense of heritage?
A few. There are even people who were very good friends of mine and now are less friends because I told them that they couldn’t change certain constructions. There has also been no shortage of discussions with local authorities. However, I prefer dialogue, and as I have had fights, I have also had many successes, from people who have finally understood the need to preserve buildings.
When have you said at the end of the day: wow, I was wrong today?
I have said it many times and I have tried not to do it the same way and then I have fallen into the same thing. For me it is not an easy thing to rectify mistakes; In this case, helping me rectify mistakes is my daughter, and when she was not born, her father. I always need a person to help me not push myself so much.
– II –
Haughty, the parish bell tower seduces. Roofs and eaves may enjoy the June rain today. In the street, the brave people; a car, with the sign of The jackal, defies traffic laws. With a basin of diapers on the fork around her waist, a neighbor looks out onto the railed balcony. The city lives another Thursday of its 510 years.
Before dying, an authoritative figure, Carlos Joaquín Zerquera, then historian of the city of Trinidad, added fuel to the fire of controversy, by stating that Father de las Casas did not accompany Diego Velázquez in the founding of Sancti Spíritus nor did he dictate here the famous Sermon of Repentance. Do you agree or disagree with his colleague?
In this case I do not agree with him. There are Hortensia Pichardo’s studies that reaffirm that he was there. And although I will say that my friend Carlos Joaquín Zerquera was a much more competent authority than me, I am one of those who think that, based on documents, yes, Father de las Casas was in Sancti Spíritus and gave his Sermon of Repentance.
– III –
Ñeñeca asks to stop. Someone is coming up the stairs. There are just 5 minutes left until noon. I speed up the dialogue.
When will the day come when Ñeñeca lays down his arms, always in favor of the conservation of the town?
When he is at Kilo-12, that is, in the cemetery (laughs). The truth is that as long as I live I am not going to lay down my arms.
