Tiempo Muerto de Manuel Mendez Ballester, directed by John Rivera-Resto

Set in the sugar cane fields of Aguadilla, during the off season or \”dead time,\” the family’s morals are tested against severe economic needs, exposing what becomes of humans when all dignity is taken away by an oppressive system . Tiempo Muerto ( Death Time ) from Manuel Mendez Ballester, is a Puerto Rican classic that touches us deeply. The writer displays a dysfunctional farmer family during the sugar cane times in Puerto Rico. The family\’s economic needs are more important than the family morals. Metaphorically describe the relationship between an oppressed colony (Puerto Rico) and the oppressor landlord (USA). Even though Ballester wrote the story in 1940, it still represents some of the reality that we have today. The colonization situation of PR continues, and the struggle to become a state never stops. But the Puerto Rican people are resilient, and they preserve through hurricanes, earthquakes, and pandemics. And so the Latino community and the human race.