Norma Spencer Norma Spencer

Norma Spencer
Norma Spencer
Entrevistadora: Amanda Martínez
Interviewer: Amanda Martínez
¿De dónde vienes?
Vengo de La Habana, Cuba.
Where do you come from?
I am from La Havana, Cuba.
¿Por qué te fuiste de Cuba?
Me fui de Cuba por una razón muy, pero muy poderosa. Me
fui de Cuba porque, cuando tenía apenas diecinueve años
–imagínate tú, que ya tienes veinte–. Bueno, tu abuela tenía
diecinueve años cuando mi papá tuvo que hacer esa decisión,
porque era imposible vivir allá, porque estaban –sobre todo
mis hermanos y mi papá– perseguidos por el régimen de
Castro. Ellos habían hecho contra revolución de Fidel y ya
después de Playa Girón, cuando fue el fracaso de Playa Girón
–que fue eso muy terrible–, a la mañana siguiente, llegaron
unos milicianos, que así les decían, con metralleta, tocando
duro a la puerta buscando a mi padre y a mi hermano. Eran las
seis de la mañana y aun dormíamos. Al abrir la puerta, entran
y van directo por un hall que había en la casa de nosotros y
daba a los cuartos. Mi padre les dice, “un momento, allí está
durmiendo una señorita y no me puede pasar para allá”.
En eso me despierto de lo más nerviosa porque yo era muy
nerviosa. Cogieron el sofá de la casa, lo viraron contra la
pared. A mi hermano, que se sabía que había estado en la
revolución contra Fidel, porque da la casualidad que estaban trabajando y se había infiltrado uno del gobierno, ellos lo
sabían, por eso fueron directamente a buscarlo, porque sabían
todo lo que ellos estaban haciendo. Entonces, se sentaron, nos
mandaron a sentar en el sofá, cogieron una silla del comedor,
la pusieron adelante con un miembro del ejército y con una
metralleta y dijeron: “vigílalos y quien se mueva, ya tu sabes”.
Yo cogí mi rosario (I want to cry sometimes when I talk about
this), me quedo parada, mis hermanos, mi mamá y mi papá se
sentaron contra la pared así, y yo les digo: “me puedo quedar
de pie” y me dijeron que sí, it’s okay. Entonces, nada porque
la idea mía era que allí nos iban a matar a todos. Entonces,
empezaron a revisar toda la casa, la saquearon. Uno abrió la
gaveta que teníamos los cubiertos y saca una y dice “Por eso
no nos podemos acostumbrar…. Cubiertos de plata…
el latifundio”. Después, se llevaron a mi papá y mi hermano,
mi madre les pregunta que para dónde se los llevaban. Cuando
se fueron, era muy triste. Pensamos a dónde iban a llevarlos.
Casi un mes estuvieron presos.
Why did you leave Cuba?
I left Cuba for a very, very powerful reason. I left Cuba because
when I was nineteen years old – imagine that, you who are
already twenty. Well, your grandmother was nineteen years
old when my dad had to make that decision, because it was
impossible to live there because my brothers and my father
were persecuted by the Castro regime. They had made a
counter revolution against Fidel, and after Bay of Pigs, when
the failure of Bay of Pigs happened – which was so very
terrible –, the next morning, some militants arrived, milicianos, that’s how they were called. They had machine guns.
They knocked very hard on the door. They were looking for
my father and my brother. It was six o’clock and we were still
asleep. When they opened the door, they entered and went
straight to a hall which led to the bedrooms. My father told
them, “Wait a moment, there is a young lady sleeping there
and you cannot go that way.” Then, I wake up very nervous
because I was often very nervous. They took the sofa and
turned it against the wall. And my brother – they knew he had
been in the revolution against Fidel, because it happens that
when they were preparing it, someone from the government
infiltrated them. The milicianos knew about him, so they went
straight to get him. They knew exactly what they were doing.
They sat down, and made us sit on the couch. They grabbed
a dining room chair, and put it in front and one of the men sat
there with a machine gun and then they said, “Watch them,
and if anybody moves, you know what to do”. I took my rosary
(I want to cry sometimes when I talk about this). I was still
standing up. My brothers, my mom and dad sat against the
wall, and I said, “Can I stand?” and told me yes, it’s okay. Then,
nothing happened. I had thought they were going to kill us all.
Then they began to check around the house. They sacked it.
One of them opened the drawer and pulled out the silverware
and said “That’s why we cannot get used to this... Silver knives
and forks ... feudal landlordism.” Then they took my dad and
my brother. My mother asked where they were taking them.
When they left, we were very sad and were thinking where
they were taking them. They were imprisoned nearly a month.