I act as the tongue of you, tied in your mouth, in mine it begins to be loosen’d.
Walt Whitman
A humorous character, nicknamed Chicken Mind, carries us away with laughter every Wednesday. In the primetime Channel Cubavisión, this sharp “teacher” says what we whisper in the streets. He can do it, even though he’s in front of the television cameras, because the joke and the metaphor protect him. Still, sometimes his critiques are so clear and direct that at home we end up worrying about what will happen to the actor who plays the part. We are thankful that he makes fun of our absurd daily life and that he manages to show us what our own parliamentarians are not able to articulate when they meet. Hence, Chicken Mind has turned out to be the only public figure in which I see my demands represented. But with all the mocking and fooling around, do the critics go too far?
Last Thursday I met several friends who said, “They are about to close the program ‘Let me tell you.’ They are criticizing very hard…” But no, the honorable and very wise Doctor Chicken Mind and his other colleagues only put into the language of jest what we say every day in all seriousness. For example, in his next to last appearance he predicted the dismay of future archeologists when they find the remains of a chicken from our time. It will be difficult for them to reconstruct this animal that, whether in its appearance in the ration stores, or sold for convertible pesos, never has a breast.
The program of Chicken Mind, Incompetent Lindoro, the Left Workshop Screw, and Pacifier Perez says more about our reality and our doubts – even with its apparent bedlam – than the National News, the Roundtable and all the analysts that appear on TV.