Babylon, 522 BC: The Persian king Darius faces a revolt led by a presumptive heir of Nabonides, the last monarch of Babylon. It is unknown whether there were roadblocks or hunger strikes “to the last consequences”, but there was a battle in which the powerful Persian army defeated the rebels and captured its leader, who was expected to be punished in a manner worthy of a prince.
However, when the investigation was made, it was discovered that the leader of the rebels, far from being who he said he was, was an ordinary Armenian named Arakha, so that the cruelest punishment of antiquity was imposed on him: impalement.
According to Tom Holland’s book “Dominion: The Making of Western Mind”, the reason for this cruel execution was not because he had rebelled against the Persian monarch, but because he had lied. In fact, the Lie was considered among the Persians the greatest crime, a real attack on the human order (as it destroys the trust placed in the word) and on the cosmic order of the supreme god Ahura Mazda. Holland also reports the advice that Darius the Great left to his successors: “Be on your guard against lying. To the man who follows the lie… punish him well”.
Persian culture is not the only one in which lying is severely condemned, under the broader concept of slander and perjury. For example, in Judeo-Christian culture the eighth commandment lashes out against that sin, to go against God who is the Truth. Who doesn’t know chapter 13 of Daniel, where the story of Susanna, the old judges and the young and insightful Daniel is told? For lying and slandering, those perverts ended up stoned to death, instead of the guiltless Susana.
Even in pre-Hispanic cultures, lying was condemned. Just remember the Quechua commandments: ama suwa, ama llulla, ama kella (don’t be a thief, or a liar, or a lazy person). They have recently been joined by an original commandment of Bolivian politics: ama llunku, don’t be flattering. In fact, if something is forbidden or condemned, it is because it is a common practice.
Today we suffer the bombardment of hoaxes on the networks, without there being any punishment for their authors who usually hide behind anonymity. I don’t suggest impaling them, but it’s also not fair that there is absolute impunity. That’s why meritorious institutions have emerged that try to expose the clumsiest hoaxes: what a job, when it comes to Donald Trump or progressive fanatics!
In today’s “Bolivias”, lies have become common bread in political life. Everyone lies (Dr. Gregory House would say), but some do it compulsively and knowing that they are deceiving the entire universe. YPFB and all public institutions lie, ministers lie, lawyers lie. Everyone lies. A former minister, who is easily inflamed as he spews insolent adjectives, coined the term “Cártel of Lie” to smear critical journalists, who have been regularly persecuted and harassed by forcing them to shut down opposition media. Other media, which were “for sale”, were subdued. Paraphrasing the comedian Robert Orben, that ex-minister, known as “33 trucks” for a smuggling scandal, is not a liar, but someone who lives on the other side of the facts.
Among all the liars of these lands, the Champion of Lie stands out, a compulsive impostor, whose loose tongue usually betrays his lies. Did he shoot or didn’t? Can he express himself well in Spanish or not? Has he got pregnant several teenagers or not? Was his title of “leader of the humbles” awarded to him by a jury of liars?
That coca producer should adopt the saying of the poet Antonio Machado: “Help me understand what I say and I will express it better“.