I did not know him. Just what I read and what is still exhibited as samples of his vast work. However, beyond the books, there is a monument, there is a museum, there is a town that modestly reminds me that Nuez is still in San Antonio de los Baños. I live in his character ''El Loquito'', located at the entrance of the municipality, next to the ''El Bobo'' by Eduardo Abela.
In that monument a character that transcended the pages of magazines is impregnated as traces of time, even at a time marked by the customs and political humor. He arrives to this day embedded in a large and white stone, with a black metal silhouette, and greets us, with his newspaper hat that identifies him, not only in the Ariguanabo, not only in Cuba, but in the world.
But when talking about René de la Nuez Robaina, the Loquito, conceived in 1957 to criticize the Batista dictatorship, cannot be mentioned exclusively. It is from then on, when Nuez starts as a professional cartoonist. Among his characters, "Mogollón", "Negativo Compañero", "Blandengo" and "Barbudo" stand out. The latter is the logo of the International Biennial of Graphic Humor that takes place in San Antonio de los Baños, his hometown.
He was also director of the humor weekly Palante and his graphic work has been published and exhibited in multiple media, galleries and national and international museums.
Awards and distinctions pointed to his professional history. His merits, expressing himself with drawings, cartoons, political satire, and other forms of graphic humor, granted him recognition for life and even beyond it.
On September 8, 1937, René de la Nuez was born in this town, La Villa del Humor.