Author. At the age of 15, he left home and joined the Fidel Castro's Revolution, (1956 to 1959), and fought against the dictatorial government of Fulgencio Batista. In the mid-1960s, the Castro regime openly persecuted homosexuals and Reinaldo Arenas abandoned the Revolution. His writings were censored and declared anti-revolutionary. Some of his manuscripts were confiscated. In 1973, an argument on the beach led to him being accused of sexual molestation and being arrested. He was sent to prison after being charged and convicted of 'ideological deviation' and for publishing abroad without official consent. In 1980, he left Cuba and he moved to New York. He was diagnosed with AIDS in 1987. His illness began to make it difficult for him to write and he dictated his memoir Before Night Falls to Lázaro Gómez Carriles who was still his closest friend. In 1990, Reinaldo Arenas committed suicide by taking an overdose of drugs and alcohol. Just before his death, he wrote a farewell letter to the Miami Spanish newspaper Diario las Américas and said that his death should not be interpreted as a defeat. Among his works include: "Celestino antes del Alba," "Otra vez el mar," "La Vieja Rosa," "El color del verano" and "Antes que anochezca," that inspired the Julian Schnabel film "Before Night Falls," played by Javier Bardem.
Author. At the age of 15, he left home and joined the Fidel Castro's Revolution, (1956 to 1959), and fought against the dictatorial government of Fulgencio Batista. In the mid-1960s, the Castro regime openly persecuted homosexuals and Reinaldo Arenas abandoned the Revolution. His writings were censored and declared anti-revolutionary. Some of his manuscripts were confiscated. In 1973, an argument on the beach led to him being accused of sexual molestation and being arrested. He was sent to prison after being charged and convicted of 'ideological deviation' and for publishing abroad without official consent. In 1980, he left Cuba and he moved to New York. He was diagnosed with AIDS in 1987. His illness began to make it difficult for him to write and he dictated his memoir Before Night Falls to Lázaro Gómez Carriles who was still his closest friend. In 1990, Reinaldo Arenas committed suicide by taking an overdose of drugs and alcohol. Just before his death, he wrote a farewell letter to the Miami Spanish newspaper Diario las Américas and said that his death should not be interpreted as a defeat. Among his works include: "Celestino antes del Alba," "Otra vez el mar," "La Vieja Rosa," "El color del verano" and "Antes que anochezca," that inspired the Julian Schnabel film "Before Night Falls," played by Javier Bardem.
Bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni
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