IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH february 2017 | Page 8

and Roberto Tudela , from Guantánamo , abounds in the “ Serious Problems in Guantánamo ’ s Health System .” Both have based their works on experiences lived in their neighborhoods and give us moving and painful examples of irresponsibility and negligence in health care centers , with serious consequences for patients , as well as examples of corruption and professional misconduct among the health personnel . Also from Guantánamo comes an account by Carlos Luis Estrada on the “ Hurricane Alarm .” It shows the official lack of action in the most eastern part of the country after the devastating Hurricane Matthew . It also shows how people managed to protect themselves while watching and being stunned by television programs in evident contrast with the actual performance by the authorities . In addition , Yordis García exposes in “ New Year , New Life ” the prohibitions imposed by the government for the new year celebration after the death of the former president . The author shows a reality that extends to the whole country , and it is the progressive lack of interest and enthusiasm among Cuban people for such celebration given the need to solve pressing issues at every minute in the struggle for surviving . This situation turned more serious due to the well-known policy applied by the regime to dedicate the traditional celebration to the triumph of the revolution . Hence the author ' s illustrative judgment : at the end of the year people really celebrated having " survived another year and not the revolutionary triumph ". In the same section , a paper by Armando Soler : “ Employment : A Radical Transformation …?” deals with how encouraging the private sector has been and shows how , despite official authorization after decades of radical disdain , its entrepreneurs are affected by taxes , inflation and the onslaught of inspectors , who are often corrupt as an expression of the destruction of crucial values that characterizes today ’ s Cuba . In this sense , Veronica Vega writes about “ Practicing the Truth in Cuba .” She focuses on how all these problems and their socio-cultural consequences have been hidden in more than six decades of revolutionary misrule . She begins asserting that " the revolution made the lie official " and delves into the atrophies generated since the earliest ages , such as the ideologization of the education , exemplified by infants who , without having the slightest idea about the meaning of what they say , must repeat day after day : " We will be like Che ." Since a psychologist had participated in the event " Living in the truth ", which the author could not attend , Vega points out : " I would have asked the psychologist what traumas are generated in children who , from the day care on , are indoctrinated in a political ideology that goes beyond their incipient ability to understand ; how it can affect their personalities discovering that what they see and what they are told to say is so separate , or receiving an education that trains them to memorize and to repeat ." She put the emphasis on the destruction of the multiple values very necessary for an organized society to work according to the coexistence standards that make the everyday life more bearable and decent . The section Art and Identity features an interesting group of young exponents from the Cuban cultural spectrum . Their works encourage the IDENTITIES team , as they result from the dynamic and intense way in which the various issues of the magazine are circulating across Cuba with the consequent and constant attraction of new contributors . Amehel Incera , a Speaking Word ’ s artist from the Roots Mission , offers his poetic creation “ In My Dreams ” to reaffirm the importance of both the cultural integration among the Afro-
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