In this new society that he was creating, he offered immense hope to every Cuban patriot (Meade 238).
It wouldn't be until 1961 that Arenas and the rest of the world heard Castro affirm that he had always been a communist. It was soon after this that Reinaldo realized why they had been locked up in school for a year. His generation would be the missionaries that were to go into the whole country of Cuba and spread these new ideas to everyone. After this realization, Arenas was then transferred to work on a chicken farm as an agricultural accountant. It was during this time that he met his first lover and it started him on a path of finding his own fulfillment and suffering the consequences for his personal desires. Although they had to be careful, Arenas reveals that, in the beginning, it was a time of great sexual freedom in Cuba (91). Many saw the revolution as a new start. They saw it as a way to express their innermost desires without being prosecuted. The revolution meant different things to different people. Many homosexuals viewed the new government as an opportunity to step out of the closet and finally live their own life the way they wanted too. It also pointed out that those that were not yet in concentration camps were privileged and they needed to take full advantage of their freedom (Arenas 92).
In 1965, Cuba put in place forced labor camps for homosexuals, and other citizens that were viewed as deviants to the government. Fidel Castro never tried to hide his distaste toward homosexuals, he even compared homosexuality is like, "a tree that has grown twisted." Arenas would not only have to worry about making sure himself didn't end up in one of the camps but his friends as well. He tells a story of him being taken to the police station by an officer that had come to his room, had sex with him and arrested him immediately after for being a "queer". Another incident happened that had Arenas hiding in the bushes for a whole day to escape a soldier who had threatened him with a pistol.
