Pérez-Reverte: "Any fool knows that in the Civil War there was a winning side"

The controversy surrounding the withdrawal of writer David Uclés from the conference on the Civil War, organized by fellow writer Arturo Pérez-Reverte, continues to grow. This time with a press conference by the author of 'Alatriste', in which he wanted to clarify several issues that seemed ambiguous in the exchange of statements in recent days, especially on social media, where Uclés announced his final disagreement, but which were picked up by the media, such as the issue of the title, 'The War We All Lost'.

"It was in the title with a question mark, but it reached the posters without one," Pérez-Reverte clarified at the press conference this Monday in Seville. "Some people have clung to that. This fall we will leave the title without question marks. We lost lives, all of us. Homes, women's progress, freedoms, culture, democracy, that is the loss referred to by the title of this conference and that we are going to maintain." The title, he maintains, was known to everyone since last May.

"Any fool knows that in the Civil War there was a winning side, no doubt; but all Spaniards lost, as I said before, freedom, culture, lives, homes, families, futures, democracy," said Pérez-Reverte. "And the proof that we lost is that we are still entangled in that mess today. Ninety years later. Of course, we lost and what's worse is that we continue to lose it all. And this comes from someone whose father, grandfather, and uncle fought for the Republic and suffered the consequences, especially my grandfather. So, I am authorized to talk about it. And I have also seen a few civil wars as a journalist."

Extremism

The organizers of 'Letters in Seville', at the beginning of the controversy, applied the principle that the best defense is a good offense and said that Uclés organized a "boycott" for being "sectarian and ignorant." Alongside journalist Jesús Vigorra, co-organizer of the series sponsored by the Cajasol Foundation, Pérez-Reverte assured that "Uclés will not return here, he has discredited himself and we do not want him to discredit the conference with his presence. My personal opinion about Mr. Uclés's literature has nothing to do with the conference. I spoke sympathetically of Uclés, but this has nothing to do with literature. This has to do with very obvious things that have become very clear."

Uclés is, in the opinion of the organizers, what they call "left-wing extremism," blamed for "harassment from the beginning," partly due to the "neglect of the left," although "the historians, all but one, remained (on the program)." "But this time the harassment has undoubtedly come from left-wing extremism from the beginning, as has been clear." They also explained that the sessions will follow a chronological order, starting with the Republic, the coup, the battle, the victims, the defeated.

Lack of Parity

Another criticism that arose after the withdrawal of Uclés and some other confirmed guests was the lack of parity among the invitees. In this first program, there were 27 men and six women. "For reasons of composition, of historians, it has been very difficult for us to include some women in some aspects. There were not enough women of the right specializations or we did not know how to find them," explained Pérez-Reverte. "But we tried to bring more women, especially in the last stage. We tried, but it was not possible. We also did not seek it. There does not have to be parity. They are voices of men or women. No, we do not want 50 and 50, nor have we looked for it, nor will we look for it. The people who have to come will come, men or women without distinction."

The conference will now be held between October 5 and 9, with the same title, "the same themes more or less," and "more guests," announced Pérez-Reverte. Among these new additions are "representatives of Historical Memory," said the writer. "We asked them to come, but they have not confirmed." Regarding the pickets that loom over the celebration of the conference, the organizers plan to neutralize it by inviting the founder of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias.