Luismi Is My Favorite
Alfredo Fernandez Rodriguez
Of all the people who send in comments to Havana Times, “Luismi” is my favorite. His enjoyable presentations — with self-dubbed nicknames ranging from “Luismi the Rat” to “Luismi the lover,” and even the denigrating “Luismi the dictator” — serve to present a truly creative and intelligent commentator, though I should explain that Luismi’s nicknames are always in relation to whatever post in question.
When I asked around about him, Erasmo Calzadilla (a Havana Times colleague) told me that he was a friend of his. He also told me that this commenter was a great philosophy aficionado, though reading his comments was enough to discover that aspect of him, because opinions of substance are an obsession with Luismi.
Havana Times has many regular commentators, ones like “La Jiraldilla,” “Otro diferente,” “Charlene,” as well as “Andres” (with the oxymoronic last names of Castro Cruz), to only mention a few. All are very good and evidence great love for Cuba, but I have to admit, none of them give me such a kick as when I read Luismi, with a richness of language that allows him to use registers that span from the marginal (“Yo kiddo, whazzap?) to the exquisite diction that was demand by the Greeks of antiquity. In this way, Luismi — who’s now in his twenties — employs whatever language at his whim.
When seeing someone as young as Luismi sharing his ideas so intelligently, the only thing left for me to request of him is to “stay in touch! Please Luismi, that must be your first obligation from now on, otherwise look at the mess you’ve gotten yourself into by writing with insight. I imagine that if Luismi ever met the great Cuban philosophizer Alexis Jardines they’d talk for several hours.
Regarding Luismi’s comments, I have to admit something basic. Many times I’ve read him presiding over an online argument that he sparked, considering himself superior; like when he returned to Spain and wrote a comment to Erasmo with a line that loosely summarizes the situation of Cuba in relation to the Internet: “Voila kid, I’m in the West now.”
A few months ago I asked Erasmo to introduce me to him when he comes to Cuba (Lusimi lives in Spain). Until then I have no other alternative than to continue insisting on meeting this exceptional commentator of Havana Times.