WHEN THEY WERE HAPPIER FOR BEER AND HORS D'OEUVRES, THEY WENT TO DANCE TO RANCHÓN WHERE THERE WAS A DANCE FLOOR. THEY DANCED WITH ENFORCE AND JOY. THEY COULD NOT ASK FOR MORE TO LIFE. IT HAD ALREADY FALLEN THE NIGHT AND BEYOND THE FARM MANGALES SURROUNDING DARKNESS OF DENSE FOREST AND THE NEW MOON CAST ITS LIGHT ON THE EDGE OF THE FOREST LOOMED. SUDDENLY A HELICOPTER WITH A DEAFENING NOISE THUNDERED THROUGH THE SKY. SEVERAL MILITARY JEEPS OCCUPIED THE AREA. ONE OF THEM CAME FORTH COMMANDER FIDEL CASTRO AND ALL YOUTH RAN TO THE VEHICLE TO APPLAUD AND HONOR HIM.

 

  FRAGMENT OF THE NOVEL CUBAN DOCTOR IN NICARAGUA: CHINANDEGA

  WHEN THEY WERE HAPPIER FOR BEER AND HORS D'OEUVRES, THEY WENT TO DANCE TO RANCHÓN WHERE THERE WAS A DANCE FLOOR. THEY DANCED WITH ENFORCE AND JOY. THEY COULD NOT ASK FOR MORE TO LIFE. IT HAD ALREADY FALLEN THE NIGHT AND BEYOND THE FARM MANGALES SURROUNDING DARKNESS OF DENSE FOREST AND THE NEW MOON CAST ITS LIGHT ON THE EDGE OF THE FOREST LOOMED. SUDDENLY A HELICOPTER WITH A DEAFENING NOISE THUNDERED THROUGH THE SKY. SEVERAL MILITARY JEEPS OCCUPIED THE AREA. ONE OF THEM CAME FORTH COMMANDER FIDEL CASTRO AND ALL YOUTH RAN TO THE VEHICLE TO APPLAUD AND HONOR HIM.    

 FIDEL DRESSED AS USUAL OLIVE GREEN UNIFORM. IT WAS PLACED NEXT TO THE DOOR OF THE JEEP AND SPOKE TO THOSE PRESENT:     __ I SEE THAT THEY ARE ALL VERY YOUNG. IT IS THE FIRST MISSION TO SEND TO NICARAGUA TO MAKE THE INTERNSHIP IN HOSPITALS OF DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS. WITH YOU ARE THE TEACHERS OF THE IMPORTANT SUBJECTS __ WAS A LONG PAUSE AND THEN LOOK AT THE CHARGE OF THE SUPPORT GROUP COMMANDER WHO IS ESPECIALLY RECOMMENDED ORGANIZING THIS MISSION. __ ANGELA YOU TELL ME IF EVERYTHING IS READY, THEY GO AFTER TOMORROW.     ANGELA, A GIRL IN HER THIRTIES WITH HAIR DYED BLOND, SLENDER AND PRETTY, REPLIED:    __ YES, COMMANDER, EVERYTHING IS READY TO DETAIL. THE GUYS WILL BE WELL PLACED.    __ WHY DO NOT WE GO TO RANCHÓN TO HAVE CLOSER EXCHANGES WITH YOUNG PEOPLE? __ FIDEL INQUIRED.    

 ALL THE BOYS RAN TO RANCHÓN WHERE THEY SAT ON CHAIRS AND MADE A SEMICIRCLE AROUND  WHERE COMMEXCERPT FROM THE NOVEL "CHINANDEGA: CUBAN DOCTORS IN NICARAGUA"
ANDER SITS . DANIEL STAYED ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE SHACK AND CLIMBED ON A CHAIR TO SEE THE PRESIDENT FROM ABOVE. BODYGUARDS INTIMIDATED HIM WITH HIS WALKY-TALKY SURROUNDED THE SHACK. AT THE MOMENT HE  HAD THE FEELING OF BEING EXCLUDED FROM A PACK OF DOGS. IF BOLDEST WOULD HAVE SAT BY THE ALPHA MALE AND WOULD SPEAK DIRECTLY TO THEIR CONCERNS. BUT THAT WAS NO LONGER POSSIBLE. FIDEL SPOKE:     __ I HAVE RECENTLY STOPPED SMOKING CIGARS. IT HAS NOT BEEN EASY. WHAT I MISS MOST IS THE ABSENCE OF THE LIGHTER IN MY POCKET THAN CIGARS. WHENEVER I WENT PATTED HIS POCKET IN SEARCH AND STILL NOT LOSE THE HABIT.     EVERYONE LAUGHED AT THE STORY. FIDEL ALREADY RELAXED THE ATMOSPHERE. IT WAS THE MAIN THEME: THE MISSION.     __ I KNOW YOU ARE GOING TO TAKE UP THE SPIRIT OF OUR BRAVE YOUTH TO KNOW NICARAGUA AND SHOW HOW A REVOLUTIONARY CUBAN DOCTOR. ALWAYS GIVE THE EXAMPLE. SACRIFICE IS ALL WE ASKED. THE REVOLUTION WILL KNOW COMPENSATE LATER. __ HE PAUSED AND THEN ADDED, CHANGING HIS TONE AND TURNING TO HIS SIDE __ ANGELA. IS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOUNG PEOPLE NEED AND YOU HAVE NOT ASKED?   

 ANGELA HAD BEEN WORKING WITH THE GROUP TO SUPPORT THE COMMANDER TWO YEARS. SHE KNEW HIM WELL TO ANTICIPATE THEIR DESIRES. WHILE OTHER HEADS ROLLED AT THE SLIGHTEST MISTAKE, SHE HAD BEEN ABLE TO STAND, FIGHTING TOOTH AND NAIL AGAINST AN EGOMANIAC THAT BROOKED THE SLIGHTEST FAULT. IT HAD ALMOST CANCELED HIS PERSONALITY. JUST BECOMING A MACHINE EFFICIENCY AND SPEED TO PLEASE THE SMALLEST WISHES OF THE BOSS. HE HAD KEPT A SUBMISSIVE SPIRIT BUT FIRM IN MAKING DECISIONS, ANTICIPATING THE WHIMS OF THE PRESIDENT. IT HAD SURVIVED AND PLANNED TO STAY IN THE RING FOR A FEW YEARS. DO NOT BE DECEIVED. HE KNEW THAT SUBORDINATES THE COMMANDER DID NOT LAST LONG. THEREFORE HAD A SAVED LETTER IN:    __ FIRST THING TOMORROW THEY RECEIVE AT THE FACULTY OF GIRON NEW BOOKS OF SURGERY AND INTERNAL MEDICINE . ALSO WHITE ROBES OF HIS STATURE TO MAKE THEM PRESENTABLE AT WORK. WE KNOW THAT NICARAGUAN DOCTORS DO NOT WEAR GOWNS. SO WE GIVE THE EXAMPLE. FURTHER. __ 

HE PAUSED FOR BREATH AND ADDRESSED THE STUDENTS IN GENERAL__ WE WILL GIVE A STETHOSCOPE AND SPHYGMOMANOMETER LAST GENERATION WITH A MEDICAL BAG WHICH CAN CARRY THINGS.     ANGELA DID NOT SMILE TRIUMPHANTLY. HE THEN HELD HIS HEAD BOWED MODESTLY EXHIBITING THE BEST HE COULD. COMMANDER SMIRKED.     __ GOOD. 

IT SEEMS THAT EVERYTHING IS READY, AS ANGELA SAID, TO THE LAST DETAIL. __ CHANGE HIS VOISE__ AND NOW I WOULD HEAR AN OPINION OF YOU.     GROUP OF STUDENTS SURROUNDED THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF A GIRL OF SHORT STATURE, PRETTY FACE, THICK HAIR DYED MAHOGANY AND A ROUNDED FIGURINE ROSE SUCCULENT MEATS. HE WENT TO THE CHIEF:      __ I'M CARMEN DE SANTIAGO DE CUBA BUT EVERYONE CALLS ME CRUCITA. LET ME TELL YOU, COMMANDER, THAT THIS GENERATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE TRAINED BY THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT FAIL YOU. WE WILL FIGHT HARD TO FULFILL OUR DUTY AS THE HISTORIC GENERATION FOUGHT FOR US. COME UP WITH ALL THE STRENGTH YOU'VE INSTILLED IN US AND THE SPIRIT OF OUR HEROIC GUERRILLA, COMMANDER CHE GUEVARA. IT WHY ASK THAT OUR BRIGADE SO CALLED "COMANDANTE GUEVARA" AND WE THUS IDENTIFIED. 

     THERE WERE MURMURS OF APPROVAL FROM THE GROUP AND SOME CHEERS AND APPLAUSE WERE HEARD WIDESPREAD. FIDEL CAREFULLY OBSERVE THE STUDENT. SHE LOOKED LIKE A STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM CONE WITH HER BEIGE SKIRT AND PINK BLOUSE. LE SEXUALLY TASTE. IT WAS A SELECT GROUP OF GRACEFUL WITH WHOM HE HAD HIDDEN LOVE AFFAIRS. GIRLISH BUT WITH STRONG CHARACTER, NOT EASY TO BREAK. FOR HIM IT WAS LIKE A CHALLENGE TO HIS MANHOOD AND HIS STATUS AS AN ALMOST TEENAGE GIRL FACE HIM IN PRIVATE. AND THIS GIRL, AS IT WAS CALLED ...

 CRUCITA, MET THE REQUIREMENTS. TOO BAD THE'D DISCOVERED SO LATE A FEW DAYS TO GO ABROAD, BUT I COULD CONTACT HER LATER. HE WAS ALREADY BORED WITH HIS CURRENT WOMAN WHO HAD FILLED SONS AND HE HAD TO KEEP HIDDEN BECAUSE IT WENT AGAINST THEIR IMAGE TO THE PEOPLE. IT WAS ASSUMED THAT HE WAS MARRIED TO THE REVOLUTION, THAT THIS WAS HIS REAL WIFE AND THAT THERE WAS NO BIGGER THAN LOVE OF COUNTRY. THAT IMAGE HAD BEEN INCULCATED TO THE PEOPLE SINCE THE EARLY YEARS AND WOULD NOT CHANGE.

 SINCE THEN, HE HAD TO LOOK SMALL CRUCITAS IN THE SHADOWS THAT HIS SECURITY TEAM MADE HIM REACH THE DISCRETION OF STATE SECRET AND DEAL WITH THE SKINNY, TALL AND FEISTY HIS OFFICIAL WIFE THAT FEW KNEW AND HAD WATERED DOWN HER CHARACTER LIVE ALMOST IN HIDING. THAT WAS TOO MUCH FOR A WOMAN OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER OF THE REVOLUTION.     CRUCITA ENDED HIS SPEECH OR SPEECH AS DANIEL COPIED SELLOUT HIGH CHAIR IN THE SITUATION. "BUT THAT BIG EARL GIRL CAME TO ME," HE SAID TO HIMSELF. HE KNEW FROM HIS STUDIES AT THE FACULTY OF SANTIAGO DE CUBA. SHE WAS A BORN LEADER. A VIBRANT PICTURE OF THE UJC AND SHE KNEW IT. WITH ITS STRIDENT AND DEFIANT VOICE COULD INFLAME THE COLDEST PUBLIC. EVERYTHING IN CONTRAST TO HER SMALL FIGURE THAT SEEMED TO BE NOTHING.

 DANIEL KNEW HER WELL. SHE HAD A BOYFRIEND OF HER OWN AGE OF WEAK CHARACTER COMPARED TO HER BUT IDOLIZED. HE WAS A STUDENT OF THE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING OPPOSITE THE MEDICAL AND LOOKED EVERY DAY, EVEN STUDIED TOGETHER. BUT CRUCITA BEGAN HIS VISITS HE DEMANDED ITS LEAD OVER THE UJC AND FELL IN LOVE WITH THE BUS DRIVER WAS A YOUNG ATHLETIC BUT UNEDUCATED. IT WAS FIERY IN BED IN THE CITIES WHERE THEY HAD TO GO ON THEIR NUMEROUS TOURS OF ACCOUNTABILITY. SO SHE BROKE UP WITH HER OFFICIAL BOYFRIEND. HE WAS COMPLAINING TO HER HOUSE. THE PARENTS OF THE GIRL THREW HIM SAYING "FAGOT" AND THAT ENDED THE ADVENTURE AND GOOD REPUTATION OF CRUCITA. 

SHE WAS CONSIDERED A GOOD LEADER FEARED FOR HER POWER BUT TO VULGAR PULLED HIS DRIVER TO VIEW. AMONG HER CLOSEST FRIENDS THEY BEGAN TO DESPISE FOR HIS GAFFE. WERE GIRLS FROM GOOD FAMILIES, PROUD AND CONCEITED. CRUCITA IGNORED THEM AND CONTINUED SLEEPING WITH THE DRIVER WHO TREATED HER MORE AND MORE.     THE COMMANDER SAID A FEW MORE SENTENCES FAREWELL AND LEFT LIKE THE PLACE AS HE CAME,  HIDDEN. STATE SECRETS WERE HIS MOVEMENTS ALTHOUGH THEY WERE RECREATIONAL, WERE MADE IN ABSOLUTE MYSTERY. SO THE PEOPLE  SAW IN THE MOST OFFICIAL EVENTS: CELEBRATIONS OF NATIONAL HOLIDAYS, FACTORY OPENINGS, OPENING OF MONUMENTS. ACTIVITIES LIKE THIS, AND MORE INDIVIDUALS WERE SECRET. ALL TO GUARD AGAINST ANY ENEMY NORTH ATTACK BUT THE MAIN REASON WAS TO MAINTAIN THE CULT OF PERSONALITY: STRONG, ELUSIVE LIKE A TIGER, MYSTERIOUS. IT HAD BEEN HIS LIFE IN THE LAST 30 YEARS, IT HAD CHOSEN WELL, KNEW THE FASCINATION FOR THE PEOPLE AND IT MOTIVATED THEM MORE.     WHEN THE PROCESSION OLIVE GREEN JEEPS AND ALL THE BODYGUARDS AND SUPPORT GROUP HAD DISAPPEARED IN THE DARK, THE PARTY DECLINED. NOBODY WANTED TO DANCE AND WAS DRUNK. JUST EXCITED. DANIEL JOINED THE GROUP OF HIS AREA AND WALKED TO THE BUSES WAITING AT THE EDGE OF THE FOREST OF MANGO TREES. NEXT TO HIM WAS ELIO WHO SHOCKED BY RECENT EVENTS WITH COMMANDER COMMENTED EUPHORIC:     __ DID YOU SEE THAT GAVE ME A LITTLE SQUEEZE ON THE SHOULDER WHEN HE LEFT? DID YOU SAW?     __ YES, I SAW IT. I WAS IMPRESSED BY YOUR OUTSTANDING FIGURE. __ 

DANIEL COMMENTED SARCASTICALLY.    __ AND TOMORROW WE WILL GIVE THE BOOKS WE NEED ... AND THE ESFIGMO, ESTETO AND COVERALLS  WE NEED.     __ THAT'S THE POWER OF THE COMMANDER. HIS ONLY WORD THAT EVERYTHING COMES OUT. KING MIDAS SEEMS ...     ELIO LOOKED AT HIM STRANGELY NOT SEEMING TO UNDERSTAND ANYTHING. DANIEL SAW HIS THE SITUATION AND ADDED:      __ I MEAN THE COMMANDER REALLY CARES ABOUT US. SURE I DO NOT IGNORE YOUR PRESENCE IN THE ACT__ HE PAUSED AND SOFTENED HIS WORDS. __ IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WHEN WE ARE IN NICARAGUA YOU WRITE A LETTER TO THE COUNCIL OF STATE AND RESOLVED IMMEDIATELY.     __ DO YOU BELIEVE?     __I ASSURE.     THEY TOOK THE BUS. NIGHT HAD FALLEN SQUARELY ON THE FOREST, ONLY THE GLARE OF THE HEADLIGHTS OF THE BUS BACK TO THE FACULTY OF GIRON WAS VISIBLE.

 DANIEL RESTED HIS HEAD ON THE WINDOW AND MEDITATE ON HIS LIFE. HE HAD ONE GIRLFRIEND IN HIS LIFE AND HAD NOT EVEN MADE LOVE. AND THIS ENGAGEMENT HAD ENDED SO ABRUPTLY AND PAINFULLY WITH THE BETRAYAL THAT HAD LEFT HIM AS AN EMPTY VESSEL THAT THE MISSION WAS NOW TRYING TO FILL, NOT SUBSTITUTE FOR HIM AWAY FROM HIS NEFARIOUS THOUGHTS AND GAVE A NEW HOPE AND NOT LET HIS AUTOESTIM DRAGGED ALONG THE GROUND COMPLETELY. HE WAS NOT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD. GOD KNOWS AS WOULD THE HEARTS OF OTHER GROUP MEMBERS,

 EXCEPT MARRIAGE, AT THIS STAGE OF THINGS, ALSO BROKEN AS HIS, ALTHOUGH THEY HAD A STRONGER SELF-DEFENSE MECHANISM AND WERE OPTIMISTIC BY NATURE, BUT DANIEL'S PESSIMISM ATTACKED HIM IN SPURTS. HE WONDERED IF SHE HAD A SORT OF BIPOLAR PERSONALITY ALTHOUGH THIS HAD BEGUN TO SUFFER WITH ADOLESCENCE. HIS PERIODS OF DEPRESSION ALTHOUGH HE WOULD CALL "MELANCHOLY" GAVE BY HIMSELF IN HIS ROOM WITH HIS BELOVED BOOKS AND WRITE LONG PAGES IN HIS NOTEBOOK AND IN HER DIARY. SOMETHING HAD INHERITED FROM THE FATHER WITH HIS CHRONIC SADNESS AFTER THE REVOLUTION  INTERVENED BUSINESS OF HIS LOVE AND HAD PLUNGED INTO A QUIET BITTERNESS 

AND INDIFFERENCE TO THE EDUCATION OF THE 5 MEN WITHOUT GIVING EVEN A TOUCH OR A KIND WORD AS THEY DO TRUE PARENTS. DANIEL NEVER FORGIVE SUCH BEHAVIOR, LACK OF PARENTAL AFFECTION, ONLY HER MOTHER WAS NOT ENOUGH TO FILL THE VOID. YEARS LATER, WHEN HE TURNED THIRTY FORGIVES PAPA AND JUSTIFY THE COLD BEHAVIOR OF HIS BROTHERS. BUT NOW HE WAS VERY YOUNG AND STILL NEW THINGS SURPRISED HIM AND NOTHING LIKE A LONG JOURNEY FOR LONG YEARS AWAY FROM HOME TO PROVE HIMSELF AS A MAN. PERHAPS HE LOVES AGAIN TOUCHED ON HER DOOR.

     THE NEXT DAY THE SPEAKER OF THE FACULTY WERE AWAKENED AND FELL TO THE OFFICES OF BUILDING WHERE, AFTER A MAKESHIFT DESK, MISS ANGELA  WAS HANDING THEM OUT ONE BY ONE BULKY PACKAGES: MEDICAL GOWNS, PROMISED BOOKS, ESPHINGO AND STETHOSCOPE.

ORLANDO VICENTE