After a certain age, my father read newspapers with apprehension, fearing to find news about the death of his friends and acquaintances. Starts to happen the same with websites, the bad news on the Internet are like a virus, nothing stops them.
is how to open "La Jornada of Mexico my first reading on Monday morning, May 2, I hit a headline announcing the death of Raúl Leis at 63 years old, on Saturday 30 April, just two days before the end of the anniversary of the disappearance of Paulo Freire.
As I write these lines there is still nothing on Raul on the website of the Council for Adult Education in Latin America (CEAAL), and ironically a Google search is the first thing on your profile in the " Directory of Panama living writers ." Still alive.
Raul I have not seen it many years, so they trample on the memory of memories, blurred or crisp, brief meetings in Panama, Cuba, Nicaragua or Mexico.
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| Raúl Leis |
Raúl was a sociologist and university professor, prolific writer, journalist, promoter of popular education, human rights defender, citizen political participation. It will be remembered for all these aspects but much more. Along with Carlos Nunez and Oscar Jara Alforja group, Raul was one of the three musketeers of popular education from which we draw so many in Latin America in the 1980 and 1990. He was president of the Center for Social Assistance of Panama (CEASPA), Chairman of CEAAL, driver of the Citizens Alliance for Justice, and candidate for Congress in 1994 by the group Egoró Pope presiding Rubén Blades.
Among his works of short stories, drama and stand trial: Notes on methodology and practice of change, Voices of struggle, Machi: a Kuna in the city, the bow and arrow, The Bridge, Remedies for grief and Do you want me to tell you again?, Bridge, Macuá The Nest, Panama, lights and shadows . Leo won five National Book Award Ricardo Miró.
My memories of that big man with a prematurely bald, deal with events on popular education and communication in which we participate. We were in the assembly of CEAAL in Guanajuato, in November 1987, when Mario Kaplun was coordinator of the Popular Communication Network. On another occasion, in June 1988, we were at a meeting in Cuba, organized with the support of Casa de las Americas in an isolated hotel in Machurrucutú, with participants from throughout Latin America.
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| Invasion of Panama, in 1989 |
Kaplún Mario Raúl replaced in the coordination of the People's Communication Network in September 1989 organized the Latin American Meeting of People's Culture and Communication, in Panama City. We met at a retreat in the Chorrillo neighborhood just two months later, on December 20, 1989 (eight days after birthday Raul), the 417 was destroyed by U.S. bombs during the invasion of Panama, under the guise of removing Noriega from power, as now happens in Libya on the pretext of eliminating Gaddafi. Required reading on this subject: "What we really want Uncle Sam" by Noam Chomsky.
remember that meeting in Panama City the fellowship, good humor, optimism (the shirts bore the phrase "Do not worry, ne happy"), and the commitment of all participants, including which was Eduardo Galeano.
Raul fought throughout his life all just causes, and did so with honesty and integrity at all costs.
In his latest column published two days before his death in La Prensa with the title "The heads of the Hydra", Raúl addressed the issue of corruption:
"To the beat Heracles hydra with a sickle, but we need to create a new principle of legitimacy that goes beyond the idea that democracy is only electoral majorities emerged in the heat of election time, for active and everyday citizens guards government leadership that cares about tackling corruption, social deficits, environmental degradation and predation, breach of human rights, with the same care that drives economic growth. "
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