Two vans unloaded a batch of white plastic chairs and other black padded ones. In an abandoned building in danger of collapsing, which spoiled the view of the mandarins of the communist party, they displayed a huge poster of Camilo Cienfuegos, a guerrilla from the Sierra Maestra from the Diez de Octubre municipality, who died in a mysterious plane crash in October 1959.
The electrical company installed powerful LED lights, the technical division of the MININT activated recording cameras and three patrol cars prowled the surroundings. “It is rumored that they will hold a political event and Díaz-Canel and his clique will come. We had to take the opportunity to ring the cauldrons and ask for food,” said a neighbor in the area.
According to the woman, “on her block, a Cuban-American living in Miami bought a pig and had a party at a relative’s house. Only they and a family that receives dollars celebrated Christmas. “I went to sleep because the smell of roast pork made me hungry and I only had two bottles of water in the refrigerator.”
The next morning, dozens of State Security motorcycles and a thousand workers and students were mobilized to participate in the ‘patriotic act’. From the balconies and doorways the neighbors looked expectantly. President Díaz-Canel, hand-picked by dictator Raúl Castro, did not attend.
Participating were Esteban Lazo, president of parliament, vice president Salvador Mesa, Liván Izquierdo, first secretary of the provincial party and Yanet Hernández, governor of Havana. The act generated mishaps among the neighbors. “They filled the entrance to my parking lot with cars and I couldn’t get out. The leaders believe they have divine powers. Without asking permission they occupy your space and you have to remain silent. If you protest, they will fine you or put you in prison,” commented a retiree.
The people continued doing their thing. Yuneidys, a single mother, after ordering the last one in line for rationed bread, went to the pharmacy and asked if metformin, a medication to control diabetes, had been introduced. “They started shipping the bread at around nine in the morning. And metformime has not arrived nor is it expected. Between the lack of jama and my illness I have lost twenty-five pounds. The people are suffering from hunger and a thousand needs and these shameless people from the government are getting fatter and fatter,” said Yuneidys.
When Yuneidys left the bakery, the political event had already concluded and a group of mobilized students with blue uniforms and dreamy faces were queuing at a mobile stall that sold Creole pizzas for 160 pesos.
Yandro, a third-year high school student, could not explain the reason for the activity. “I think it was for the 66th anniversary of the triumph of the revolution. The school director was the one who took us. The best thing was that there were no classes afterwards. What we young people do is put on our headphones (headphones) and that way we don’t hear the political noises.”
Yandro considers that putting on the headphones “gives a psychedelic touch to those political events, since you don’t hear what they are talking about, nor the applause. You only see the listless faces of the attendees, who go out of pure commitment. During the trova (intervention) of the match official, I listened to two songs by Estopa and the anthem of West Ham United – a Premier League football team – whose lyrics say that ‘I’m always blowing bubbles in the air, and just like my dreams They fade away and die.’ Seeing all that in silence is something paranormal, like this government.”
Diario Las Américas asked twenty people about Christmas. Fourteen did not celebrate it, among them Leonardo, a teacher and father of three children. “You have so many things on your mind that I didn’t even remember Christmas. If I remembered, I wouldn’t have celebrated: there’s only half a pound of hash left in the refrigerator. We will wait for the new year if the chicken arrives at the butcher shop, which we will eat with rice and peas, because I don’t have enough money to buy black beans or pork.”
The fierce multisystem crisis that affects the Island has caused 89% of the population to live in extreme poverty. 72% of people do not eat breakfast and eat only one meal a day. In Cuba there is a lack of everything. There is a deficit of water, public transportation, medicines, food and the collapse of the electrical energy system causes blackouts of twelve to twenty hours a day in provinces outside of Havana..
Cubans have lost their smile. Zenaida, a psychologist, explains “that frustration and hopelessness affect a large number of citizens. The lack of future drives thousands of young people to emigrate, causing family separations. Many of those who cannot leave, disenchanted, take refuge in alcohol and drugs. Suicides and suicidal behaviors have increased by 23% in the last four years in the Diez de Octubre municipality, the most populated in Havana and the third in the country behind the main municipalities of Santiago de Cuba and Holguín,” and adds:
“A worrying fact: if a decade ago the majority of those who committed suicide, or attempted to do so, were elderly people, mainly men who lived alone, in recent years suicide among young people and adolescents has skyrocketed.” in ages between 12 and 35 years. Suicide in Cuba, historically, is among the first ten causes of death. The percentage per hundred thousand inhabitants has remained above 12 and 15 percent.”
Starting in 1972, rates in the country grew to be among the first in the world and fourth in Latin America. “But in 1982 a disastrous record was reached when suicides increased to 23.2%. Although there are no updated statistics, I can assure you that the suicide rate has skyrocketed in Cuba,” emphasizes the psychologist.
In the Mayarí municipality, province of Holguín, 870 kilometers northeast of Havana, Sergio, an engineer, states that “in the interior, the problems and shortcomings are multiplied by five. In Holguín the markets are bare. There is no money and the hope that the situation will be reversed has disappeared. People walk the streets like zombies. They look like cattle heading to the slaughterhouse. I am concerned about the mental clarity of many people. There are more and more beggars and crazy people on public roads. The majority of Holguín residents did not celebrate Christmas. In addition to the fact that there was nothing to eat, we had a fifteen-hour blackout that day.”
“Among the population they only talk about emigrating. Now that Trump has made things bad, they are going to try to go to Guyana, Barbados, Thailand or any other destination that can be traveled without a visa. You see teenagers, almost girls, who marry old men who could be their grandparents to escape this disaster or young people who sign up as mercenaries in the Russian army and don’t mind fighting against Ukraine. Cubans are desperate,” confesses Sergio.
In the Minas de Matahambre municipality, in Pinar del Río, at the western end of the Island, 200 kilometers northwest of Havana, Danilo, an agricultural laborer, assures that “the desolation is total. The blackouts are so extensive that there are lights out for three or four hours a day. Many walk around with dirty clothes due to lack of water and detergent, others have lost their teeth due to poor diet and lack of dental care. The only fun in town is drinking ‘chispa de tren’ (cheap rum) or fighting cocks.”
Liudmila, a university student, watches from her balcony the tedious speech of the first secretary of the communist party in the Red Square of the La Víbora neighborhood. “I don’t know what we Cubans have done to endure 66 years of punishment. It is not understandable that some guys keep shouting stupid slogans and people do not rebel against so many lies. The only way left is to leave,” he says. His mother nods silently.
