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Voices from Exile
T
he heartache of being separated from one’s home and,
often, from family and friends is well known to Cubans.
Since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, more than 1.5
million have left the island to escape the regime’s repression or
seek better economic opportunities—and this in a country of
only about 11 million people.
In exile, Cuban writers have turned their experiences into
compelling works of literature. This chapter examines three
such writers.
Reinaldo Arenas: Into the Night
“I have realized,” Reinaldo Arenas wrote near the end of his
life, “that an exile has no place anywhere . . . because the place
where we started to dream, where we discovered the natural
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