Pedro Menocal

Pedro García Menocal is a writer and lawyer. He is the son of noted Cuban artist Pedro G. Menocal and the great-grandson of Mario García Menocal, the third president of Cuba. Pedro was born in Mexico City and thereafter grew up in the United States and Europe. He grew up with a cultural identity crisis of which he was reminded every time someone asked him where he was from. Sometimes, he didn’t really know the answer. He was Cuban, but yet had never been to Cuba. He was Mexican, but that was only because he was born there. And he was American because he spoke English like an American. And when he finally went to Cuba, Cubans told him, “Sí, pero eres de allá.” “Yeah, but you are from over there…” Of course he was. Still, there was no denying that Cuba has always been a part of him, no matter where he has lived in the world. Today, Pedro lives in Miami Beach and hopes that one day, he will be able to spend an entire year in Cuba without anyone telling him where he is from.