In one of the most profound and significant historic moments affecting that immense sanitorium which floats at the mouth of the Caribbean Sea, the inmates of the asylum, for the first time, screamed “¡Libertad!” (Liberty!), “¡Abajo el comunismo!” (Down with Communism!), “¡No más tiranía!” (No more tyranny!), all anguishing cries that resonated the world over. It was July 11of 2021.
Seemingly, to the amazement of the keepers of the institution, there was a crack in the wall that surrounds the booby hatch, where the programmed brainwashed population was supposed to be happy and quiet. Through that tight opening the soul and sight of hundreds of thousands of human beings escaped, screaming for freedom and for a basic form of human dignity, to the consternation of the Supreme Warden and subsequent subordinates.
These who up to that moment held total control of the inmates, were all members of two generations of pirates that decided to stay put -a much more extended presence than the usual predatory stopover. These grotesque, malevolent, cruel, chameleonic, totalitarian, at times charismatic and at times vulgar creatures had coalesced into a single voice that with brutality set aside any form of mask to proclaim cynicism that the inmates who rebelled were simply cockroaches to be crushed immediately, some by assassination or heinous beating and the rest by renewed, continued incarceration.
The isle-jail-asylum continues to float. Tourism flows uninterruptedly. What will these new visitors see? Are they different from the previous myriads that came and departed without even a hint that they were visiting a gigantic prison? Is there anyone who sees or hears besides the family relatives of the sufferers, besides the socially conscious beings, or besides the ones that still contemplate Christianity, Beauty, and the Gracefulness of Freedom? Is the cry of the inmates to be transformed into a monstrous echo chamber to the pleasure of all still applauding the jailers? Is 10 million people a significant amount of human flesh to be taken into consideration beyond a few days of international posturing?
Can any of the jailers have even a midnight blink of consciousness? Is any one of the big leeches leaving the scene? The asylum island is Cuba, populated by a group of beautiful, loving, jovial, creative, hardworking human beings who since 1492 to the present have enjoyed only 57 years of freedom as a Republic. Those in the streets screaming “Liberty” are Cubans in a macabre house of correction, hoping that a miracle would change their fate. Any hope…?