Driven by solidarity, more than a month ago Carlos “Cascote” Bertola set off for Gaza with the aim of bringing food and medicine to a devastated people. Since Wednesday, October 1 (till Monday, October 6) nothing more was heard from him.
With the hold of the “Estrella y Manuel” filled with food and medicine, a couple of miles away from Gaza, the crew of twelve, led by Carlos “Cascote” Bertola from La Plata, was kidnapped by the Zionist army of Israel. This is not the first time that Cascote has taken part in a regatta or flotilla for humanitarian, sovereign, and patriotic purposes.
On November 20, 2013, Sovereignty Day, a group of kayakers and a couple of boats attempted to stop the arrival at the Port of Buenos Aires of a British-flagged transatlantic cruise ship that had previously come from the Falkland Islands.
At that time, there was heated debate in the coastal provinces over the Gaucho Rivero Law, legislation that prohibited the mooring of any British-flagged vessel that had previously come from our Falkland Islands. And that cruise ship, the size of a building and flying the pirate flag, entering the Port of Buenos Aires on Sovereignty Day was nothing less than a great imperial provocation.
Cascote took it upon himself to organize and convince sailboat and motorboat helmsmen, rowers, former Falklands War veterans, legislators, and even entrepreneurs involved in the construction of plastic kayaks to stop the British ship.
During those days, he exhausted and excited everyone, talking about the chains used in the Battle of Vuelta de Obligado and finishing by quoting San Martín, changing a few words, speaking recklessly and with his heart on his sleeve: “We Argentines are not empanadas that can be eaten in one bite.”
Faced with the imminent advance of the cruiser, on November 20, rafts were burned at the entrance to the port and the national anthem was sung on the river. Those who were part of the group of boats and kayaks say that Cascote shouted at the Coast Guard ships, showing them the Argentine flag he carried on his kayak and telling them that Guillermo Brown, Hipólito Bouchard, and the boys from the Malvinas would do everything possible to stop the ship. He spent that night in detention with other comrades.
Between songs, walks, and canoes
Toto la Momposina, Mercedes Sosa, Teresa Parodi, Fandermole, and Raly Barrionuevo, among others, make up the scaffolding of memories that taste like childhood. Their voices mix with Dad’s voice, pausing the music every two words with an incisive question: What does this mean? And that?
The games in the car seemed to last forever, because between Mom and Dad, the task was clear: we might not have a penny to our name, but we were going on vacation anyway. And so we traveled through the country, staying at free campsites and some municipal ones, covering almost its entire length. From the Wanda mines in Tierra Colorada, to the waterfalls and jungles of Misiones, straight down to the south.
On one of those trips, when we were only six and eight years old, we discovered our love of rowing on Lake Steffen, as another way to continue immersing ourselves in our geography. While we were hiking, Mom would tell us about history, and between the two of them, they taught us to keep walking until we reached our destination.
Some say that you cannot defend what you do not love, and you cannot love what you do not know. So, when we were 8 and 10 years old, they took us up to the first refuge to look from the top of Tronador for that lake where we learned to row, above all, as a family.
Our frequent visits to Mar del Plata, where part of the family lives, are also to blame for what is happening today. The water was always there, teaching us about the tides at an early age. The language of the waves, the movement of the seabed, the dangers to be aware of in order to enjoy playing in the surf.
The dream of a country facing the sea
In recent years, waterways, ports, artisanal production, and the Magdalena Channel have become recurring topics of conversation at family dinner tables. Common goods, our forests, our rivers, aquifers, salt flats, lithium; in short, sovereignty. Although they have always been present, some time ago they turned their attention to the sea with greater intensity.
Cascote’s concern repeatedly raises the question of the sea and Argentine history, particularly ports. Why, with such an extensive maritime territory, are they not part of the central discussion on national production? Why, when we talk about our towns, do we omit the canoes of the coast, the river and sea fishermen, the regional producers from the shores of the Paraná to the end of the world?
Driven by the strongest feeling we Argentines have, solidarity, he set sail for Gaza more than a month ago with the aim of bringing food and medicine to a devastated people. To dodge the Zionist blockade, he traveled light, carrying a couple of kilos of yerba mate, a Gauchito Gil T-shirt, our national flag, and Diego as his only weapon.
We haven’t heard from him since Wednesday. His family and friends are waiting for him and miss him very much.
First publish in Spanish on El Grito del Sur.
The post The language of the waves: the dreams of Cascote, the Argentine kidnapped by Zionism appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.
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