New Contradictions in Today’s Cuba
HAVANA TIMES – Over the weekend, I visited the Poey neighborhood in the Arroyo Naranjo Municipality in Havana. I did not know that an unpleasant revelation would change the course of my day. The once-famous Ciro Frías Sports Complex is now in a deplorable state.
Founded in 1962, this spectacular sports center was at the forefront of sports in the capital.
Its marvelous 400-meter track saw the growth of excellent athletes. The stands used to be full. Young people trained, competed with other teams, and practiced athletics. There were always competitions, as well as Physical Education classes for local schools. The semifinal games of the provincial baseball series were also held there. The area designated for soccer was always crowded with players and fans. In the afternoons, it was common to find older people jogging or playing with their children and grandchildren.
In the Olympic and diving pools, classes were held, and numerous events took place where talented young people stood out. The same was true for the basketball courts, which were invariably full, as well as the areas for gymnastics, karate, and weightlifting. This ideal environment no longer exists.
Indifference, carelessness, and a lack of interest in the community’s health and emotional well-being are evident. I am told that since 2023, the pools at this Center, designed for public enjoyment, especially for young people, have been filled with water—not the clean water of the past but rather water where weeds and all sorts of debris. The water also runs elsewhere and stagnates in the most unexpected places.
Despite these dangerous health conditions, residents venture into this facility that once was a cornerstone of sports and recreation for the people.
In this state of affairs, one wonders how it is possible that campaigns against the Aedes aegypti mosquito still exist, that home inspections are still conducted house by house, that water containers are checked, and that tank coverings are required, while these work brigades are maintained in each municipality.
How is it possible to impose fines on citizens when municipal governments tolerate such a lack of principles, and negligence reigns in their own institutions?
What a DISGRACE All that decay could have been saved by foreign investment and secured by legal ownership having created good paying jobs for the people
I believe it’s a case of ” do as I say, not what I do.”