Concealed Identity / Silvio Benítez Márquez

The strategy to conceal his Cuban Communist Party (PCC) membership and his collusion with the “rapid response” gangs in the interview with the consular official, had been the perfect alibi of the astute Pelencho in his effort to win a visa and with it the right to travel first class to the beautiful city of Las Vegas.

Pelencho, a fan of the hammer and sickle, had finally broken with the traditional concepts of the Cold War. He wanted to know “the empire” and vacillated between the lovely green dollars without abandoning the agitator’s mask in the neighborhood.

The skilled character knew the risk he exposed himself to each time he presented himself to go visit “La Yuma.” On the one hand he felt infallible faced with the mass of kids he assaulted disdainfully and humiliatingly, and on the other he feared the political challenges of his more vertical allies.

A road paved that, with time, unmasked the true identity of the old Pelencho. He who once again had staged another of his histrionic scenes in front of the neighborhood’s residents. Managing, all on his own, that the wide open door of opportunity would slam shut in his face, forever.

January 25 2011