CUBA, CASTRO CORPSE WATCH: From Beyond The Grave Reinaldo Arenas "Elegy To Fidel Castro"

The Dead On The Not Yet Dead
Reinaldo Arenas, who died in New York in 1990 was the Cuban writer, poet and playwright who was imprisoned and exiled by the Castro regime. His book Before Night Falls, was made into the movie starring Javier Bardem - not the one where is paralyzed. Giles Tremlett in
The lost, last diatribe of Reinaldo Arenas printed in The Guardian, reports that Spanish diary El Pais recovered a scathing and sarcastic "elegy" that Arenas wrote before he died, right after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Here is most of the text:

Fidel Castro has been criticised for refusing to accept any kind of change, or anything that smells of perestroika or democracy...

I, on the other hand, perhaps because of my contrary spirit, will not criticise the 'Maximum Leader' but will, instead, enumerate his virtues.


"Intelligent economist. Thirty years of rationing has prevented inflation, given that there is hardly anything to buy anyway.

Famous farmer. He managed to get a cow called White Udder to produce more than 100 litres of milk a day. The poor cow exploded. Milk remains rationed.

Expert sexologist. He has prepared a magnificent army of youths to work as tourist guides and translators while kindly attending to [the desires of] invitees, be they men or women.

Profound philosopher. He has made his subjects understand that material existence is meaningless, to the point that, in Cuba, no material goods exist and the suicide rate is the highest in Latin America.

Hard-working pupil. He has followed Stalin's example, getting rid of anyone who could overshadow his glory, such as Huber Matos, Carlos Franqui, Camilo Cienfuegos and Ernesto "Che" Guevara ... Fidel publicly backed the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, the (Soviet) invasion of Afghanistan and the massacre of students in Tiananmen Square.

Wise statesman. Castro knows full well that a dictator should never call a plebiscite, unless he wants to be thrown out. This explains his angry reaction against all those intellectuals, (including six Nobel prize winners) who have asked him, in a civilised fashion, to call elections."