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An open letter written in Spanish for several
Spanish newspapers and magazines.
I
am a Brazilian and recently watched a legitimate Spanish bullfight on
cable television.
I thought this event was a type
of circus in which the bull was placed at a significant disadvantage,
with the objective to highlight man’s courage facing the animal.
But I was wrong. The bullfight
is much more than a circus it is a medieval horror show, where man’s
cowardice and brutality is praised to satisfy the bloodthirsty
instincts of a vile species of man that is gross and degenerate who
think they are civilized.
My first shock came on seeing
the expression stamped on the faces of the spectators a little before
the start of the “fight”. They were laughing foolishly, as if they
were waiting for a movie or a play to begin. You could be sure that
they would behave no differently if they were waiting to see a
spectacle of Christians being devoured by lions. They would laugh and
clap with the same enthusiasm, shudder in the very same macabre
ecstatic way, and have the same morbid pleasure in seeing the other
suffer.
The second shock was worse. It
came with the sting shock of each banderilla that was pierced into the
back of the animal. I simply could not believe what I was seeing.
While the matador was swerving to avoid the bull in his shinny clothes
under the spectators encouraging “Olé’s” a fearless banderillero ran
from behind to stick the darts into the bull. And the spectators clap
loudly and encouragingly each time that happened…
The television station did the
decent thing by saving the viewers from the final shock: the cruel
death of the animal. One only heard the voice of the commentator
informing the viewers how the exhausted and wounded bull was
sacrificed by the bullfighter in a triumphal act of mercy.
Then the camera focused into the
stands to show in detail how all the spectators were standing and
frenetically clapping the hero of the day. One more time in a complete
and unquestionable way the superiority of the animal man was
demonstrated.
These in broad terms are the
scenes of a monstrous crime that I was allowed to witness that took
place thousands of kilometers away from where I was.
And when I surfed some Spanish
sites on the Internet, about bullfights, to verify the nightmare I had
seen, I saw some photos whose horror I could hardly bear. I saw
tortured and massacred bulls; there were even some running with their
horns on fire, trying hopelessly to escape from their executioners.
Oh, Spain! How painful is your
legacy to the world! The names of Cortez and Pizarro still cause the
blood to curdle in Latin America. Each new European generation are
still shocked on reading about the atrocities of the Inquisition. And
they now once again look in horror at you stimulated by your cruelty
against animals!
Certainly there are other places
around the world where there is cruelty practiced against animals, but
not with the blessing of the State and the incentive of the people.
You Spain are a sad exception.
Reply of the Spanish activist magazine “Minotauro”
that fights against bullfighting in their country:
I have to tell you that
your letter deeply stilled my heart. I guarantee you that I have never
seen a more sincere view after a first contact with the world of
bullfights.
Even for us that fight
against this barbarity, it is difficult to imagine the horror that a
sensitive person must feel looking at such a monstrous act.
Your letter made me
confirm my convictions and double my effort to put an end to the
bullfight.
What is more terrifying
is that you only saw one side of the “spectacle.” Unfortunately there
are more things that an unknowing spectator does not perceive that
would make you understand why all sensitive people suffer when they
see this atrocious act.
But in Spain the
pressure is exceptionally strong, for in Bilbao, about 15 days ago,
protesters were treated as criminals and in Madrid, in May, whoever
expressed their disapproval of the “feast” were attacked by those that
defended it.
All the same we know we
are right and thus through this fact we shall achieve our objective.
And despite them being
a minority, with power, they are a minority with the intent of
convincing the world to the contrary.
With your permission I
am including your letter in our “collaborators” section of my web site
and will also take the liberty to keep you informed about all the new
developments relevant to this matter.
MANY THANKS / MINOTAURO
http://www.arrakis.es/~minotauro
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