And what about Cuban soap operas?
Gloria Machado León 21 enero, 2017
You will agree with me that the television space of the Cuban novel has been implanted, over the years and despite the ups and downs that the genre has suffered in its last installments, as one of the proposals of greater cultural consumption in the island.
From the iconic Sol de batey, Tierra Brava, Pasión y prejuicio, Las huérfanas de la Obra Pía y Cuando el agua regresa a la tierra, even the closest in time Doble juego, Si me pudieras querer, Al compás del son, Añorado encuentro, Latidos compartidos or the disappointing deliveries of Playa Leonora, Polvo en el viento o La sal del paraíso, a few manage to evade the television product. 
In the first place it could be said that the national soap operas do not resemble those produced in any other country. In that sense they are distinguished by questions that transcend formal aspects, purely aesthetic issues and production strategies. They can contain stories about the struggles of opposites, from good to evil, towards happiness and love, but in Cuba the plot is enriched and always points also to the very context in which Cubans live: gender conflicts , Marginality, love triangles and religious beliefs, among other everyday topics.
The soap opera, according to its original bases, is a fundamentally melodramatic genre, where one or more stories of love, better or worse, are always shown, with intrigues, plots or unexpected turns. In recent times, in addition, the Cuban soap operas have tried to create a reflection on a social problem. Do not always get it, it’s another story.
Nowadays, night after night the television proposes a new chapter of the so consumed Brazilian soap operas, equally favored by the national public. But where are the Cuban soap opera?
A silence has suddenly covered where is the realization of Tiempos de amar, a proposal first announced for the month of November and then for the beginning of this 2017. It is said that, although the current Rastros de mentiras partly satisfies the entertainment in the nights From Monday to Friday, Cubans need a product close to their realities, where their concerns are exposed, what they feel and live on a daily basis.
Tiempos de amar will be the next screenplay of director Ernesto Fiallo who will occupy the nights of the Cubavision channel . According to his director, he will have 80 chapters of 45 minutes and Raúl Paz will be in charge of the music.
It would be a good time to reflect on the transcendence of gender, rooted in national popular culture for more than 6 decades. We have to revitalize the industry, we have to find alternatives for production, we have to stabilize the frequencies and the continuity. There are many expectations with this TV series. But the main thing is to rescue a space that we can not afford to lose.Original text by on Jan 21st, 2016
