"The difference between the communist system and the capitalist is that, even if both give us a kick in the ass, in the communist they give it to you and you have to applaud, and in the capitalist they give it to you and you can scream."
Politically outspoken, Arenas uses his writing to inform the rest of the world about the state of affairs in Cuba. He despises communism, having lived through the intense poverty which it left most of his country suffering. When he examines the American political system, he finds hope. He wants people to be given a voice, even if they can't have anything else.
"I have always considered it a miserable act begging for life as a favor. Either you live as you wish, or it is better not to continue living."
Facing imprisonment, fines, and even execution, Arenas refused to compromise his beliefs. He lived his life true to himself and his political convictions. As this quotation demonstrates, he possessed no fondness for life. This perhaps most aptly explains why he killed himself.
"I remember that when I arrived in the United States, a Cuban in Washington told me the following:" Never go to fight with the left. " For them, fighting with the left meant attacking the Castro government. But how could I, after twenty years of repression, keep silent about those crimes? On the other hand, I have never considered myself a being neither of the left nor the right, nor do I want to be cataloged under any opportunistic and political label; I tell my truth, the same as a Jew who has suffered racism or a Russian who has been in a gulag, or any human being who has had eyes to see things as they are; I scream, then, I exist. "
In the U.S., Arena was received as a political refugee. His writing preceded him with an excellent reputation. They advised him not to join the political left, which would pit him against Castro, but he ignored their pleas. Arenas considered it his duty to do everything he could to speak against Castro.
"In sinister political systems, many of the people who suffer from it also become sinister; there are not many who can escape the delirious and enveloping evil of which, if one excludes oneself, perishes."
Arenas rarely blamed the people who hurt him. Instead he continually pointed the finger back at Castro for ruining the country and driving people to commit heinous acts out of desperation. As he sees it, Arenas is no better himself than the people who lied and imprisoned him and beat him and raped him, except that he was willing to die. He refused to give into the survival mentality.
