Cuba: Rosy-Cheeked, White and Generated with AI
This is how the official press presents elderly Cubans
By Juan Diego Rodriguez (14ymedio)
HAVANA TIMES – The official newspaper Victoria, from the Isle of Youth, joined the commemoration, on October 1, of the International Day of the Elderly; that is, the elderly and older adults. Established by the United Nations in 1990, the date aims, in the words of the organization itself, to “respond to the opportunities and challenges of the aging population in the 21st century and to promote the development of a society for all ages.”
As far as Cuba is concerned, the elderly are, in fact, a fundamental bracket of the population. Not only because there are ever more of them and will be even more – according to official data, in 2023 they totaled almost two and a half million, almost 23% of the census – but also because of their very poor living conditions.
Every minute, in any Cuban town, an old man, all skin and bones, of indeterminate color because of the dirt, comes along, dragging his feet without strength, or in a wheelchair: the living dead, man or woman. Some sell fourth-hand trinkets; others simply ask for alms. There are those who don’t even have the strength to raise their hands and pick up the coin. They are the living image of the country today, marked by scarcity and exodus.
However, this is not the image offered by the Victoria newspaper, which does not even dedicate a written text to the subject. Instead, on the frontispiece of its digital cover, it placed the slogan “International Day of the Elderly,” accompanied by two images of elderly people: one, of a couple, man and woman, hugging each other; another, the same couple, even older, hugging their grandchildren. In both, the figures are white and well-fed, with a non-tropical background, smiling serenely. Both are created by artificial intelligence. Not in vain: only in a virtual world is there a healthy and happy Cuban old person.
Translated by Translating Cuba.