Lest we forget our history...
Cubanology reminds us of the barbaric treatment that Cuban independence forces suffered at the hands of the Spanish and their loyalists. My great great grandmother, Isabel Rubio, was among those who died at the hands of the loyalists.
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The founder of concentration camps in the modern sense was Valeriano Weyler, a ruthless Spanish general (also known as The Butcher) sent to Cuba to crush the rebellion during the War of Independence.
He put hundreds of thousands of CIVILIANS in these camps to separate them from the rebels and prevent the rebels from getting provisions from or blending in with the non-combatant population. However, he failed to provide for the camps adequately, and they became cesspools of hunger, disease, and starvation where many thousands died.
After the War, Weyler remained an important public figure in Spain, and public statues to his memory may still remain in place there. Hitler, of course, would have admired him, and he certainly put Weyler's concentration camp idea to use.
I am not aware of any official apology from the Spanish state for what Weyler did, even though such an apology would never undo the horrors he perpetrated in Cuba.
Needless to say, in light of history, no member of Spain's government has any right whatever to criticize the US for being "imperialist." What the hell was Spain for all those centuries? What about the untold damage and harm that SPAIN caused in its former colonies? Let's talk about THAT if they want to talk about the "empire." Miserable hypocrites.
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