IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 6 ENGLISH | Page 56

one day, how would they be able to
produce enough bread for two days in
one? Upon leaving, I saw a young child
crying in his mother’s arms; he wanted
to eat bread. I also left behind a father
tired of walking back and forth, who
eventually sat down inside the bakery
intent upon leaving the place with bread
in hand. His shoulders were slumped and
one could see weariness in his face. This
is why I went early. It was not only one
roll that I should receive; now it was
two. As I left my home, I found the
neighborhood plunged in silence, a
simulated silence that tried to make us
think that all the apartments were empty
because they inhabitants had gone to the
plaza. That was the idea, for everyone to
believe that there was no one home.
‘Simulation’ is precisely the right word
here because everyone was working one
his or her own, independently, but in a
synchronized manner, with a common
goal, so no one could question their
revolutionary integrity, which anyone
would have if they did not go to the
parade at the plaza. This is why they all
remained silent in the carefully shuttered
homes. I bumped into Ada’s sister on the
way to the bakery; she is an old woman
who sits near the market every day, from
Monday to Friday, selling sweets, so she
can help out with her family’s budget.
She was exhausted. When I saw her, I
greeted her with a ‘good morning’ and
asked about her sister. Her response
shocked me: “Ada is at the plaza!” But,
“why?” Ada, who is retired, and gets up
early every day to make the sweets she
later sells in different ways, along with

her two sisters, to help make ends meet
at home. She sometimes has serious
health issues, lots of pain in her joints
and bones, and had to pay dearly for
medical tests, so a doctor could diagnose
her. She also takes him gifts the days his
clinic is open, to ensure good treatment.
So, what is she doing at the Plaza? I
went on my way and arrived at the
bakery, bought the bread and then
continued on to the pharmacy. As I went
by the market, I saw a line of people
waiting to buy some of the chicken they
began to sell after the plaza parade was
over. The market must remain closed
during these events; except for bread, no
other products may be sold. While on
my way back home, I thought about the
motives that made these folks march at
the Plaza. Once home, I turned on the
radio; I wanted to understand what was
going on, so I concentrated on listening
to the news report. The journalists from
Cuban radio and television just kept
repeating slogans and talking about the
population’s unanimous support for the
ever improving economic model,
socialism’s triumphs, for the Venezuelan
cause, etc. I turned the dial to tune into
Radio Reloj; its announcers were
repeating the very same slogans and
reporting on what some interviewed
workers had said during the march, who
had explained their reasons for going to
the Plaza. They also talked about what
was going on in other countries and how
workers there expressed their demands.
Demands
Supplication. Request. Question. A legal
action that validates a right. I heard that

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