Cyprus-Forum.com

[repulsewarrior]

Havana, 3 July 2014 -- Yesterday on the bus, with the summer heat and after the long wait at the stop, two men commented loudly on their annoyance. "This sure doesn't happen in Cyprus!" one said to the other, and laughter rang out all over the bus. He was referring to a monologue by the comedian Nelson Gudín, which has become a viral phenomenon on the alternative distribution network for videos. The actor plays a drunk who, among many other absurdities, complains about the space given in the national media to relating the problems of other countries, while remaining silent on ours. The old technique of "the mote in another's eye..." -- which is one of the pillars of the official Cuban press.

Unemployment, corruption, economic cuts and social unrest... in Cyprus... were a topic of discussion and analysis by the panelists on the Roundtable show on several occasions. To underpin the axiom that "it's hell out there and paradise in here," the unpopular TV program placed a special emphasis on the difficulties being experienced by this member state of the European Union. So much time and so many reflections were dedicated to it, that the character played by Gudín ended up commenting, "Huh?... I didn't know we were living in Cyprus?" The sarcastic phrase has almost become a slogan on our streets.

Just let an official delay some paperwork, for an ironic voice to note, "this guy surely comes from Cyprus." That lady who is out of work due to economic adjustments, "is probably Cypriot," her acquaintances will comment maliciously. Not to mention the empty shelves because of shortages; "It shouldn't happen in Havana, only in Nicosia," a frustrated customer claimed a few days ago. "At this rate, we'll know more about the antagonisms between the Greeks and the Turks than about our own national problems," a university professor pointed out to his students.

By the work and grace of the ideologues of the official press our principal preoccupations no longer take the form of an island in the Caribbean, but of this other one in the far off Mediterranean, where all the problems are concentrated.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yoani-san ... 56037.html