—Pope Francis declared a few hours ago that “through humor it is possible to denounce excesses of power, give voice to invisible realities, highlight abuses or denounce inappropriate behavior.”
—You were invited to inaugurate the First International Biennial of Political Humor in Havana?!
-Nothing of that. He wanted to make his contribution to the event and organized on the same date, at the Apostolic Palace in Rome and with “the aim of putting the focus on the importance of humor and making people laugh, especially in turbulent times”, a meeting with a hundred comedians from around the world. «Your talent is a gift, a precious gift. Together with your smile, you spread peace in the hearts of people, helping us overcome difficulties and cope with everyday stress. “It helps us find relief in irony and take life with humor,” he told them.
—Was there any Cuban?
—The press release does not specify it, but it is doubtful: the Havana meeting has been so broad, so encompassing, so ecumenical, that Cubans from all corners have monopolized it. If not, how to explain the statement by the Vice Pope of Culture of Cuba that “this Biennial pays tribute to the long tradition of doing politics through humor in Cuba.”
—Poor girl. At this time you should have a guard patrol around your house.
—And Alpidio without time to support her. He is busy reviewing the pieces sent to the contest, lest they validate anything related to the sending of spare parts for a certain cell phone that occurred in “the capital of political humor” three years ago.
—You don’t have to worry. “In the face of hate speech, denial, and the rewriting of history that seek to be naturalized as truths of our people, art mobilizes consciences and also becomes a platform for denunciation.”
—A complaint was not made. At this point she was still under house arrest.
—To save you the trouble, the organizers of the Biennial have made it clear that political humor in Cuba “has its limits.” One of them is the spiritual integrity of our leaders.
—Especially when they have areas of their body, such as the belly and nose, that are prone to choteo.
—There will always be those who violate the limits and walk through a minefield. I tremble when I imagine what the repentista must be suffering who, in the middle of the inauguration in gallery 23 and 12, and with a “socialist character” that rattles him, launched the following quatrain: “President is Díaz-Canel / who walks on the trail / of Raúl Castro’s boot / and Fidel’s degrees.
—It must not be easy, in order to avoid assonance, to find in tenths of a second an appropriate verse that rhymes with a phrase as complicated as “domestic mammal of the canid family, very loyal and with a fine sense of smell.”
—He wanted to offer a lesson like the one the Pope gave when he noted: «Can one also laugh at God? Of course, and this is not blasphemy.
—With the number of years that man has been at the head of the Catholic Church and he does not know that not all gods react the same. It is a truth like a stone.
—He is still obsessed with the idea that his God possesses immense power.
—Speaking of authority: don’t you think it’s funny that representatives of four naval war fleets as disparate as those of Russia, Canada, Venezuela and the United States converge on the Cuban coast?
—Any resemblance to coincidence is pure reality.
—People worry about stupid things: the crew members don’t carry machetes. Perhaps the Vice Minister of Culture herself received them with that “Long live humor as a combat weapon!” that she uttered her in the hot corner.
—Citizens fear another “Servile Crisis.” It would be catastrophic for world peace if Cuba, in response to Biden for sending a submersible to Guantánamo, brings to the surface its most destructive weapon of destruction: the Murillo submarine.
