Lack of security and a health crisis, new reasons for Cuban emigration – Translate Cuba

They are not driven by the desire for economic improvement, because they have been living in the bubble of receiving remittances in foreign currency for years.

14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, Havana, September 7, 2024 — She decided to pack her bags in less than 24 hours. It was Tuesday. Gladys had been out with a friend and had left her house “as always, with the door well locked.” When she returned, the door of the apartment on Ayestarán Street, in the municipality of Cerro, had been forced open and the television, a cordless phone, some food in the refrigerator and other personal belongings were gone. “That same day, I called my son in Miami and told him to arrange the (humanitarian) parole for me,she remembers.

After weeks of police investigation, the pensioner has lost hope that the thieves will be caught and has had to ask a niece to stay with her. “I am afraid to be home, that has never happened to me before, but now that I am alone I even get palpitations. You can’t live like that.” The uncertainty that is spreading throughout the island has become a new reason to emigrate in recent years.

Gladys was one of those who swore up and down that she did not want to start a new life in another country, far from the home where she was born 67 years ago. “I was living comfortably because if I asked my son to fly away, he would send me away, but it is no longer a question of money, I am leaving because the next time they come into my house, if I am inside, they will kill me.” This week she auctioned off some appliances and now that her parole has been approved, she is just waiting for the travel permit to board the plane.

Low crime was portrayed for decades as one of the social achievements of the political model imposed in Cuba 65 years ago. Like all authoritarianisms, with an extensive network of controls, vigilantes, informants, political police and repressive agencies, the Havana regime was very effective in detecting and neutralizing criminal groups, gangs and even lone wolves planning a robbery or other crime. Security was, according to an independent journalist, an added advantage of the dictatorship.

You avoid going out at night, you look over your shoulder when you hear footsteps behind you and you hide your cell phone in your underwear

But the feeling that you could walk through any Cuban neighborhood early in the morning without fear of being attacked or murdered has long since disappeared. Doors and windows are covered with bars, people keep a machete, a crowbar or a metal pipe somewhere in their homes to defend themselves against possible incursions by thieves and thugs. People avoid going out at night, look over their shoulder when they hear footsteps behind them and hide their mobile phones in their underwear to prevent them from being taken.

We Cubans are living on hot coals, and that is not only because of the uncertainty.

Edwin woke up with body aches and fever. He had been suffering from constant mosquito bites for days due to a large puddle of stagnant water in the corner of his building, which served as a breeding ground for the Culex insect and mosquitoes that fly freely in the Havana neighborhood of Lawton, where he lives. “I went almost a month without even being able to get out of bed,” he explains.

“When I felt worse, I decided to go to the outpatient clinic, but that day there was no doctor present, only a nurse who was trying to take care of almost ten patients with similar symptoms.” Edwin had tried in every possible way not to get infected: “I live locked up, I have air conditioning, mosquito nets on the windows, I never go out at sunrise or sunset, because they say mosquitoes bite most often, because at 71 years old and with diabetes, any illness can become quite complicated for me.”

But the game of hide-and-seek didn’t work. “I caught the Oropouche and I had a hard time.” Lying there, with shivers running down his body, one thought kept coming to him: “I can’t stay in this country, where there’s not even aspirin.” When the virus allowed him to get up, he started selling some electrical appliances and auctioned off his Lada. “I already have money for the ticket to Spain. I got my passport through my father years ago and my daughter lives in Madrid, so I’m leaving.”

Epidemiological problems and the deterioration of the public health system were in his case the main reasons for leaving the island. “The puddle on the corner will still be there and I can’t lock myself in a glass box so that the mosquitoes don’t bite me and the next time I go to the outpatient clinic there won’t even be a nurse because she left on a raft.”

A year ago, Gladys and Edwin had no plans to move anywhere else, but this summer they had reached their ‘breaking point’. They were not driven by the desire for better economic conditions, because they had both been living in the bubble of receiving money in foreign currency and enjoying their own home for years. They packed their bags to escape the violence and unsanitary conditions. It is the knives and the dirt that are the reason they will soon be boarding a plane.
____________

Collaborate with our work: The 14 years old team is dedicated to practicing serious journalism that reflects the Cuban reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by become a member of 14 years old nowTogether we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.