The Barcelona-based Cuban writer Juan Abreu, who was a friend of Reinaldo Arenas and left Cuba with him as part of the Mariel Exodus in 1980, recounted an anecdote concerning Arenas in his blog Emanaciones, which I have translated below:
“[I remember] Reinaldo Arenas in an American university; we were invited there (in the early days after our flight from Cuba they still invited us), and Reinaldo said some uncomfortable truth in that mocking and provoking tone he sometimes had, and there were murmurings in the audience, so the rector interrupted the proceedings and told him to contain himself, that there was no need to be disrespectful. I have never forgotten the response of the Cuban writer, and over time I have adopted it as the motto of my life. Reinaldo said, turning towards the rector and smiling: I have not come here to be respectful [Yo no he venido aquí a respetar].”
Indeed.