La poética del testimonio en 'Necesidad de libertad', de Reinaldo Arenas

This article analyzes the book Necesidad de libertad (Mexico, 1986) of Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas (Holguin, Havana 1943- 1990). It is based on this author’s approach to the testimony literary genre. Highlighted by the critics as an alternative to the autobiography and the Latin American boom, the testimony was supported by Cuban writers and institutions such as Casa de las Américas. I am interested in examining how Arenas uses the poetics of testimony as a discursive practice that challenges official rhetoric. In addition, he highlights his political and aesthetic work in exile as part of the generation of writers who came to the United States in 1980 through the Mariel boatlift. These scarcely studied and heterogeneous texts compiled in Necesidad (essays, letters, documents, photos, etc.) are an example of dissidence within the Latin American testimonial production. They seek to vindicate the work of the Mariel Generation, stigmatized and marginalized in the debate on testimony that has accompanied official Cuban politics and its corresponding cultural practices. Key words: Reinaldo Arenas; necessity of freedom; testimony; Mariel; Cuban cultural politics