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FROM
CUBA
Urban whispers
Juan González Febles
HAVANA, Cuba - August (www.cubanet.org)
- In Havana, people don't speak; they whisper.
They walk like zombies. They go out only
when necessary. No sense talking in the
streets. We must not forget that "the
streets belong to the faithful of the Revolution."
It won't do to provoke "those people."
There are disquieting rumors about Fidel
Castro's health. At first, there is denial.
Later will come disbelief, later still indifference
and last, forgetfulness.
The city neither laughs nor cries. Havana
residents display an inscrutable visage.
Speculation and knowingness have long faded
from their minds. People move amidst an
odd apprehension. They don't know and they
don't care to know. They take refuge in
their silent ally of four decades: the wait.
They wait for a better time, and those
who wait are pathetic. To wait patiently
goes beyond the national character. Cubans
don't like long waits for long silences.
They create tension.
People look at each other fearfully in
the street, and whisper in their bedrooms.
It's the beginning of the end. Hope struggles
silently with fear. As Cubans dance in the
streets of Miami, in Havana the streets
are pregnant with the urban whispers of
fear and silenced hopes.
Versión
original en español
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