Monday, June 8, 2009

The Honey of Power


Photo: Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

With his fifteen years Leo considers himself an intelligent guy, having discovered the key to success in the Cuban Educational System: Being the president of FEEM (Federation of Middle School Students). He doesn’t give a fig for ideology and the truth is he’d prefer to go to the United States rather than waste his youth in Cuba. For now FEEM is going OK: he never goes to school, he doesn't have many exams because they give him a pass, he doesn’t have the least idea of what teamwork is because he’s never applied himself to any practical work, he knows he will apply for the university career he wants, he has no problems with any teacher and he’s the boss among the students… having discovered what The Expert has defined as, “The Honey of Power.”

What he doesn’t know is that he will pay a sad price: He will enter the university without the necessary knowledge, save that of continuing to ascend with his political “guarantee”, never able to become a professional; only fifteen, he still hasn’t explored the semantics of the “Double Standard”, he has no idea how sad and cowardly it can be Living the Lie; he’s a good boy, not imagining that one day, in his unbridled race to the top, he can forget his truth and become a fool and an opportunist.

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