Elio Delgado-Legon’s Diary

The underground struggle against Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista became more and more difficult in my town. You had to do things without blowing your cover while leading a normal life of study and work, pretending you had no involvement in revolutionary activities.

The last harrowing news we heard involved the murder of a group of children who were playing soccer at a beach. Though these incidents occur in plain sight, for everyone to see, very little is done to put an end to the mass killing.

The first battle I waged against Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorship involved, not firearms, but the pen: I wrote a journalistic article and, unaware of its implications, sent it to the COCO radio station in Las Villas, which had a rather outspoken program that defended the interests of the working class.

Recently, I have read news reporting that Cuba now exports thousands of tons of charcoal to Europe at a fairly good price (and that the demand for this product is growing in the old continent) with a mix of happiness and nostalgia.

To my surprise, I came across a piece of news in Havana Times that was originally published by DPA, an article dealing with the murder of four men at a farm near Baracoa beach, in the Cuban province of Artemisa. The facts presented are completely distorted…

“This is my livelihood, kid, this is my livelihood!” This phrase, spoken by renowned “dissident” Ricardo Boffil while being interrogated at Cuba’s State Security Department expressed the essence of counterrevolutionary activity in Cuba: a business that allows one to live well without having to work.

Faced with the reality of an aging population in Cuba as a result of the increased life expectancy, which is already close to 80 years, the Ministry of Public Health decided some years ago, to establish a Comprehensive Rehabilitation Center in each of the country’s polyclinics.