Historical disinformation. Case study: the events of Castiblanco

Abstract

Unfortunately, on more occasions than desired, when one turns to historical texts to learn more about a fact of interest, one usually finds elements that disconcert the reader, since the new information distorts his or her first references on the subject. After carrying out the pertinent checks and comparing the data with other more reliable sources, it is found that the story found, even if it has been signed by authors with adequate knowledge and the backing of a high degree, does not correspond to the reality of the fact. Although there is never a single truth and the narrative can suffer involuntary variations, in most cases the references and sources of all kinds allow them to be adjusted, to a large extent, to past reality. There are many occasions in which, when this reality affects events in which the Civil Guard turns out, for better or worse, to be the protagonist, the stories differ, and a lot, from how the events happened. As a reference example, we have chosen a memory from the history of the Corps which, due to the exceptional circumstances that occurred in it, has generated abundant literature, among which, unfortunately, the negative literature generally predominates. We propose, therefore, with the limitations imposed by a research article, to study the historiography of what were called "Castilblanco events"