IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 7 ENGLISH | Page 93

The current U.S. embassy is an ostensible censor. The long lines of those who
aspire to a non-immigrant visa to make a
family visit, as fanciful as a game of
chance, require a non-refundable payment of 160 CUCs (about $182 U.S.
dollars) for an interview from which all
leave disappointed. These lines rely on a
bit of luck, just like those who go out to
sea, or pay, or fake marriages. They sign
up for missions to desert or sell their
homes to place their fate in the hands of
traffickers, or are able to leave as exiled,
former, political prisoners, or by choice.
They are all the palpable pulse of a
country turned into a way station. The
constantly predicted war against the imperialist enemy never happened; neither
did the promised, Communist future,
either. The present hurts with the same
shortcomings and even higher prices. It
is being remade via individual initiative
by recycling the past: pre-1959 cars are
all about, an anachronism that just fascinates tourists; entire families survive on
timely remittances. Disney’s emblematic
characters, the Cinecito’s source of

pride, have been replaced by Cuban animated films, in an act of nationalism;
State or private publicity have made a
comeback in party accessories, and on
backpacks and baby items. The more
than fifty-year old wall did not have to
be brought down, as in Berlin. Instead, it
fell in short shrift, because it was made
of lies and jokes. After John Kerry’s
visit, in an act of defiance or reverted
presumption, children, young people,
and adults are wearing the other flag, the
one that has been prohibited from appearing on T-shirts, caps, on showy souvenirs hanging in cars, from pedicabs
and even horse-drawn carts, as well as
on mobile phone screen backgrounds.
The self-employed raise stands boasting
imported clothing from Miami, with pirated DVDs filled with ads offering U.S.
products. Restaurants parody that air of
economic freedom, that prosperity they
have so long awaited. As a friend was
saying, now, just as before, the Cuban
dream is to be able to aspire to the
American Dream.

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