Cuba Lives a New “Temporary” Normality
By Jesus Arencibia (El Toque)
HAVANA TIMES – A dear professor of mine once told me, years ago, what it was he did when he wasn’t sure what to do, without a foot to step on and think about our national reality.
He would open up a book by Jorge Manach (1898-1961) – Pasado vigente, Glosario, Estampas de San Cristobal or any one of his other of his unforgettable essays and articles – to any random page, read three or four paragraphs, like a musician trying to catch the right tone, and then start to write his own thoughts about the current situation.
Let’s try it, he said to me back then, to show me how it works. He took an old book off the shelf, opened it with the agility of a magician when separating a deck of cards; read from it and… what Manach was saying about the Cuban situation back in the 1930s and 1949s, could open our eyes to the island’s issues in the middle of the 21st century. Either the writer had a foolproof vision about the future, or the national future/present had an inexplicable vocation of the past, I thought at the time.
This story popped into my mind a few days ago when I verified that the repetitive, energetic and patriotic calls for productivity and efficiency of the country’s government , on the one hand, and the “normality” that this “temporary situation” is leading us to in terms of services at public establishments, form a delightful “dialectic”, the effects of which can be felt and are spreading.
National Bus Station. Late October. 2:30 AM. I had just arrived from Pinar del Rio and I had a long stop-over because my bus heading towards Holguin didn’t leave until 9:15 AM. So I didn’t have to walk about with my baggage on my back, I went to look for the “baggage check” as you do, because that’s what they are there for. It was closed. I went looking for the person responsible. Nobody knew anything. I carried on searching throughout the entire station until I found him. I told him I was interested in checking in my things. And nearly not letting me finish, he replied:
“No, papi, the baggage check only opens at 8 AM, until then we’re just handing over things that have already been checked in.”
“But, isn’t this normally supposed to be a 24-hour service?”
“Yes, but these aren’t “normal” times. And I’m covering it. There aren’t even people here to work.”
Giving up, I grabbed my bundle and tried to look after it as best I could, without getting any shut-eye, for fear of being robbed, waiting until dawn.
Some days later. Holguin.
“Is your laptop already charged?” the receptionist at the Alex Urquiola Provincial Library asks me in her usual friendly tone.
“Why?” I reply intrigued.
“It’s just that we aren’t allowed to let users charge their laptops. The energy consumption plan we’ve been given is really, really low.”
“Forgive me, but you are stopping every professional from doing their work if they come with their laptop. These devices only last an hour and a bit or two at most.”
“I know… We’re really very sorry, but that’s what we’ve been told.”
Giving in, again, I leave to try and find another library in the city where the “guideline” is different. But, as usual, things are the same and even worse. At the Art Center, which is also next to the Calixto Garcia park in Holguin city, I’ve been told that they can even be fined hundreds of pesos if inspectors see that they have let any electronic device unassociated with the institution, connect to its electricity supply.
I asked around some friends, to find out whether they have archives, documentation rooms etc. where you can work with a computer. Nothing. Electricity cuts at offices between 11 AM and 1 PM, reduced working hours. And staff, as you would expect, have to do whatever they can, following guidelines from above. As we Cubans say: “escaping”.
And it isn’t a bad strategy, at a national level, to try and protect electricity consumption in the residential sector, so we don’t have to return to the sad reality of constant blackouts in the 1990s. And it isn’t a bad thing that people (you, me, us, our families) “escape” however we can from our professional responsibilities when, to tell you the truth, our wages and transport aren’t enough for us to get home well every day, and we have to “invent” our survival our best we can.
However, the most alarming thing is that if we have been suffering the inefficiency of many of these services for decades now, public offices which began to see the public half an hour after opening and closing half an hour before closing, the “we can’t today, come back tomorrow’s”; errors in documents which you had pay an eye for to get fixed; indolence and apathy… what can we expect now, when they have the magic excuse of “we’re in the middle of a temporary situation”, which seems to stretch on and on like a piece of gum?
Jorge Manach might have the answer: “Choteo, that is to say, confusion, subversion, disorder; – in summary “chaos”. Because what is the meaning of this word but this, the relaxing of all links and connections which give things an integral aspect, a dignified integrity?”
Gregory, yours is the usual defense by sycophants of the Castro communist regime’s abysmal record of maintaining and exacerbating poverty in Cuba. That is, that things are even worse elsewhere.
That defense Gregory would be rejected outright by any jury of balanced minds.
The bottom line is that the poorest Cuban is much better off than the poorest Peruvian, Colombian, or Dominican, etc. Wander the low income areas of Havana a then compare them with the slums of Rio de Janeiro, Lima, Kingston, Teguicigalpa, etc., which are characterized by extreme squalor and violence. The Cuban system has a lot of problems, many of which cannot be blamed on the US embargo, and Cuba needs to change in many ways….but it has a social safety net this is better than the vast majority of Latin American nations. That means something.
Mr. Franken:
1. The Nordic countries are not socialist…and certainly not communist. They are capitalist, and they say so! (They do have a generous safety net for the needy.)
2. The Nordic countries allow private ownership of property….and their government certainly has not expropriated people’s assets.
3. The Nordic countries rely on the hard work of their citizens….and certainly do not blame their problems on their large neighbor (Russia).
4. The Nordic countries have free elections. If the people do not like their government, they can change it.
5. The Nordic countries do not routinely support corrupt governments….such as the Maduro regime in Venezuela.
Remember, when Cuba was a capitalist country, it was among the richest in the world, and certainly the richest in Latin America. Look at it now…after 60 years of socialism…..it is a failed nation.
Norway, Sweden and Denmark have much in common. They are constitutional monarchies with multi-party political systems. Finland similarly although a republic, similarly has a multi-party political system. Cuba’s form of government – communist dictatorship – bears no resemblance whatever to those of the Nordic countries.
Yes, apart from the all too plentiful garbage, Cuba is a beautiful country, but to describe Cubans as a “great hardworking people” is inaccurate in the extreme. Certainly many Cubans would like to be hardworking, but the communist system denies them the opportunity. Hence when walking (and most Cubans have to walk) through “residential” areas during what elsewhere would be working hours, there are fit adults lounging on their porches, playing dominoes and listening to the music.
George Franken should examine Cuba more carefully and be better informed, rather than merely trying to flog the old USA is to blame for all the world’s woes stuff.
Dear Frank Echevarria, Maybe you should read about the Nordic countries where socialism has made them the best countries in which to live based on world surveys for the last 10 years. Cuba is a beautiful country with great hardworking people. If they did not have such a bully as a neighbor, they would be far better. The USA has made a habit of terrorizing countries all over the world and it is long overdue that they clean up their own country and stop meddling in other countries. They have the most corrupt president in their history, gun and gang violence destroying their cities and yet they insist on losing wars all over the planet.
And what is this nonsense of bless Israel. That country has broken every agreement they signed with the Palestinians and steals their land without compensation at every opportunity. The U.N. is right to vote against this regime of thieves!
Yes, I’m Cuban American even though I’ve lived here in the U.S.A. just about all of my life thank God! I ‘ve never been in over fifty one years I keep on saying Socialism and Communism doesn’t work anywhere! They’ll tell you that they have free healthcare, free education and still the people are suffering, struggling you have to wait in line since early morning just to get a few lousy eggs and God knows what else! A shortage of fuel, electricity and much more! Unless anybody outthere got family here in the U.S.A. and send them money, medicine, clothes, electronics and supplies they will have it even harder! Who ever says Socialism works, I suggest for them to go Cuba, Venezuela, Russia, China or North Korea, even Vietnam! See how long they last outthere living in hell! Make America Great Again! Bless Israel and a free Cuba someday which sadly I doubt it and all the other Communist countries as well!
Just came back from a 3rd trip to Cuba.
Was actually in Holguin. On my last night there, got robbed right in front of my door….until that moment, I thought Cuba was the safest country in the world, and even though I still think it’s safe, my perception has changed.
In terms of electricity: there are many things that don’t make sense in Cuba, and it’s pointless to try to justify or explain them. Until there is a change in the government, this will continue to be the norm. The good thing is, when talking to people in Cuba, they realize that what’s happening there is not normal, and that the government is to blame.
Anyone who has witnessed the astonishing arrival and multiplication of electric scooters and bicycles over the last six years in Cuba – sold by GAESA companies to those fortunate enough to receive money from family and friends living in the capitalist world, must wonder how long it will be before they are banned, for obviously they use a lot of electricity. Similarly with quite numerous converted bici-taxis. Laptops use only a tiny fraction of electric power. A “temporary situation” in Cuba can last ten years.
Face the facts communism is a failure.
Time to allow other political parties.
Words dictatorships don’t like to hear.