by Wilfredo Vallín Almeida
He had a look of concern on his face as he spoke to me. He was a neighbor who came to warn me. According to his account someone from the police, who identified himself as Agent Brayan from the Department of Technical Investigations (DTI), had been to his house to ask for his help. He wanted to place a listening device near my home.
I did not know whether to be be annoyed or amused. After thinking about it a bit, I remembered another Brayan – the agent from State Security who “chatted” with me during my detention on April 13. At least that is how he identified himself. They never use their real names.
As I am almost certain we are talking about the same person (and if not, it does not really matter), I would like to send a message to my interlocutor from that day about the issue that my neighbor brought to my attention.
Brayan, what you might hear in my house is the same thing I told you the day of our “interview,” which I will reiterate now: Among the people most in violation and ignorant of the laws of Cuba are those of you who act as though legality had nothing to do with legal procedures. Examples of this abound.
I am quite convinced of this. It is a secret to no one — not to the general populace, not to the attorneys, not to the country’s highest authorities.
I will say what I think, with or without microphones, so there is no need to trouble yourself. I do not know if you are ignoring what the Maestro said: Only truth can wrap us in a manly gown.
The most annoying thing is that this has the atmosphere of a movie thriller, of illegality, of plots against the state, as some of you would like to claim.
It is common knowledge that, on numerous occasions, the domestic opposition has invited you to participate in its dialog, yet you always refuse. Clearly, if you accepted, the climate of conspiracy that you prefer to see would fall by the wayside, and you would not be able to invent scenarios that required punishment by “trial” like that carried out against Dr. Darsi Ferrer some time ago.
Young Brayan, you seem to ignore the fact that, when your superiors provide some information to be pursued about the “enemies of the revolution,” they are communicating this only to discredit them. If there is something positive to say about such people, you will not be informed.
When this young man “spoke” to me, he pretended he was doing as he was told, although his actions (since he did nothing else but act) reminded me of those lines from The Prophet Speaks by Luis Aguilar León:
Cubans do not need to read, they know it all. They do not need to travel, they have seen it all.
Previously, I suggested you see the German film, The Lives of Others, from which you might learn something useful about all this… and your job.
I would like to make another suggestion. It involves reading a very good book by Leonardo Padura, The Man Who Loved Dogs. You might see in one of the protagonists of this literary work what you could become, if you do not react in time — your possible future self-portrait.
August 13 2012