Malinche II

The most serene Isabel Díaz Ayuso has said some words that painfully challenge us. She said them after the Mexican government –incomprehensibly– failed to understand her fervent praise for Hernán Cortés. "We had to disappear. We were in danger," she murmured, on her return to the capital of the motherland.

Some woke person will say that disappearing and being in danger would not be the ideal verbs for someone who leaves after praising a conqueror characterized by endangering and making disappear a civilization. But that won't be me. I fully understand the suffering of this empowered, brave woman who goes against the current and tells us some uncomfortable truths. I understand Isabel Díaz Ayuso's pain of having to disappear due to the danger she faced. And this danger is comparable to that of all Hernán Cortés' victims, starting with Moctezuma. That is why I dare to suggest a reparation in the form of art.

On this dissolute trip, she was accompanied by Nacho Cano, author of the (musical...) work called Malinche. Brother Cano, from Mecano, explains (with the same artistry he displayed in "Hijo de la Luna") the love story (a love story, let's be clear) between the "indigenous" Malintzin and the Spanish "conqueror" Hernán Cortés (the quotation marks are mine) in the 16th century, focusing, he says, "on the birth of Mexican mestizaje." I believe his next masterpiece should be another musical called Ayuso and it would be a kind of Malinche II. He would do the music; I could do the lyrics, with some effort, and needless to say, it would rhyme "Isabel" with "bitter as bile." Don't worry about the budget. I'll do it as historical reparation, and I'm sure we'll reach an agreement.