Organized Lying and the Restoration of the Common World: Arendt on Propaganda in Cuba and Nicaragua

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between organized lying, disinformation, and authoritarianism through Hannah Arendt’s political thought, focusing on the contemporary cases of Cuba and Nicaragua. Drawing on Arendt’s reflections on factual truth and organized lying, it analyzes how propaganda and disinformation operate as mechanisms for shaping appearances, neutralizing political plurality, and legitimizing authoritarian rule. The article explores the Cuban 11J protests and Nicaragua’s 2018 uprising as moments that exposed the gap between official narratives and social reality, prompting intensified campaigns of repression and information control. It also examines the contemporary use of anti-imperialist rhetoric as a strategy for sustaining political legitimacy despite growing external dependencies. The article argues that the combination of propaganda, censorship, and disinformation contributes to the erosion of the common world, the shared space in which facts can be discussed and subjected to political judgment.