Initially, Arenas supported the Cuban Revolution. However, his disillusionment arrived swiftly. The very regime that promised liberation soon began to enforce rigid cultural and sexual conformity. As an openly gay man and a writer who refused to tow the ideological line, Arenas became a target. He was persecuted, imprisoned, and eventually exiled.
“My struggle, my obsession, was always to be free, to write freely, and to love freely.” — Reinaldo Arenas, Before Night Falls Antes Que Anoiteca Reinaldo Arenas Pdf