WHEN THE CONSUMERISM ARRIVED TO CUBA, FOREIGH CLOTHES, EXCESS OF CONSUMPTION, POPE FRANCISCO?

  WHEN THE CONSUMERISM ARRIVED TO CUBA-FOREIGN CLOTHING-EXCESS CONSUMERISM, POPE FRANCISCO?

  In the radio and television of Punta del Este they put several announcements:

  "In the barracks Silsa we have received Uzbekistan tables ISO 342 HEL 659, waterproof- hydrophobic- cut with a horizontal saw-Spintel whirtol- that are ideal for covering your bedroom, living room or toilet"

  Then a beautiful woman telephoned her neighbor:

  -You saw how the Silsa barracks are selling some precious planks, from Uzbekistan, I already went -I think French or from Bulgaria-, and they gave me the bathroom of that kind of wood. It is green like fine linen and gives an elegant touch wherever you use it.

  -And the price?

  - More economical than I thought. You do not think my friend is fabulous. Now the bathroom looks like a sauna.

  - And the toilet, how did you manage to replace it?

   _Very easy my dear. You have to go to buy the boards ISO 342 HEL 659.

  - I'm going right away in my truck  new Land Rober. Any more indication?

  -Good. Ehh The only drawback I found was that the ass is left full of splinters.

   - It does not matter, dear friend. If you bought those ISO boards ... I also want them in the "tolete", even if we have to shit in a crouch.

   -Forgive me my friend but do not say "tolete", I think the word comes from the creole dialect "toi- let" that the English school ladies taught me.

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  In Punta Shopping you have to see the ladies with skins, collars, gloves and fine shoes, stir in boxes of old-fashioned clothes and very cheap. I suppose they will give them to the poor or they will use it when they take off the costume of millionaires.

   In a very famous Supermarket they announced that for a package of Frankfurter, in Creole, hot dogs or as they say in Argentina: panchos, they gave you another for free. And there I went, encouraged by the propaganda. There was a crowd of all social classes in the Sausages section. I bought a frankfurter package and they gave me another extra. Then at home I saw that the next day they expired.That night I ate all the hot dogs until I vomited them.

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   Clothing is going out of style every season. It's not like before a pair of pants lasted several years and you did not feel out of "wave." Elastic jeans that narrowed at the ankles were out of fashion. Now the wide skirts appear below the knees and pants wide as legs of elephants. And people to buy, even the poor to feel fashionable.

  The sandals of huge platforms are "demodé.

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  In CubaThe German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, in charge of Chanel, posed for the cameras with his grandson and the models at the end of his parade in Havana.The Paseo del Prado in Havana became a catwalk where, in addition to models, international celebrities and personalities from Cuba also paraded.The unprecedented event that brought them together was the presentation of the new Chanel Cruise collection, the prestigious French fashion house.Karl Lagerfeld, his creative director and one of the icons of current fashion, chose the island as the first location in Latin America where he makes one of his fashion shows.And the village away from the show. 

   Cuba Moda was the one that dictated clothes in Havana to collect foreign currency, only for tourists. The Cuban people were bad taste bugs that had no purchasing power except some Cuban women who hunted some foreigner.Now the Cuban youth, followed the example of Fidel Castro who, in his convalescence, was walking dressed in clothes of the signature Adidas- after accusing for years after the transnationals of Europe or the USA for influencing even the clothing of the Latin American countries. He was the first to advertise the brand in Cuba before the TV cameras.

   Now it is Miami or Europe that fill the underground or regulated foreign clothing market. To the point, that there is to take a pair of shoes Spike, Addidas and even wallets Luis Vuiton, of course, you have to become a lover of some "yuma" -stranger-, be a man or a woman or wait for the remittances of dollars that send Cubans from exile, who suffer the loss of relatives or miss their family members.In short, that Cuba has adhered to the excessive consumption of capitalism and here I can say that Cominism no longer exists as Fidel Castro did.

  And nothing. That excess consumerism is bad for the mind and pocket.

  When will this end, Pope Bergolio even though you condemn him?

Orlando Vicente Álvarez