Por Ángel Rodríguez Pérez 
Just a couple of months ago, in the first reading of The Age of Conspiracy, by Ignacio Ramonet, the attack on symbolic buildings enriched the notes for one of my comments on the war of symbols.
Although plots or conspiracies date back to ancient times, in current times, facilitated by new technologies, they acquire an impetuous connotation and mobilizing capacity.
A suggestive reading
After a more careful reading of the text, I return to it now to suggest the possible and necessary debate that we owe it. The publication in Cuba of The era of conspiracy. Donald Trump, the cult of lies and the assault on the Capitol, by the Spanish political scientist and writer, printed by Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, Havana, 2022, was exhibited to the Cuban public during the 31st Havana International Book Fair.
The text, which I acquired during the Matanzas edition of the fair, gathers in its 185 pages, valuable information on how the hordes and legions of conspiracists are built in today’s world.
The lie as an argument
Weaving lies, constructing diabolical falsehoods, manipulating public opinion, they launch barbaric and unthinkable personal and institutional attacks anywhere in the world. I assume during the reading that the poorly carried democracy in the United States enjoys the sad privilege of surpassing others.
The book, after the acknowledgments, surprises the reader from the very preamble. From a narrative invention, the ideas and comments of many North American citizens are put in the jargon of any name, during the inauguration of the current president of the United States. The author himself explains in the introduction, the use of the literary resource. It is used in a similar way in the epilogue. The proposal does nothing more than fictify the form, without departing from the content of the extreme right groups, which violated Joe Biden’s seizure of power.
Ignacio Ramonet, PhD in Social Sciences and History of Culture and Professor of Communication Theory, directed the French edition of Le Monde Diplomatique – a monthly publication on politics, culture and world news – from 1990 to 2008, and from then on the Spanish edition. of the publication. His social commitment and his agile and precise prose make him one of the great essayists of the moment with more than twenty published books.
A must read
Throughout 9 chapters, this time Ramonet reveals to us the countless ins and outs of the struggle for power in the United States.
From the assault on the Capitol by Trumpist fanatics, to the appearance of movements, sects and conspiracy theories with political ends, they are denounced in the title.
Particular analysis deserves in the text the growing and disturbing uncertainty of the North American white middle classes, as a background of many conspiracy theories.
The reigning distrust, the end of the “American dream” and the increase in the consumption of sedatives as a consequence of the loss of prospects, darken the outlook for many. The launching of ideas and theories, such as flat earthing, dismantle centuries of scientific proof. These and other moments of abundant information will make reading a pleasant exercise in updating and discovery.
Translated by Casterman Medina de Leon