Aurelio Pedroso

This seemingly indestructible bureaucracy, which is the bane of Cuban society, is becoming stronger in the provinces where a government official, sitting at a desk in a second-class office, is called to dampen the existence of Cuban people’s papers or procedures in their hands.

“This problem is related to food, which is considered a national strategy, and doesn’t seem to ever bear its calming fruits for one reason or another, which is economic, the crisis, the lack of resources to ensure a steady supply of what we need to send food down the esophagus into the stomach and not via TV announcements.”

The seven employees at the La Puntilla shopping mall (in the Cuban capital) involved in the Apple affair, were summarily let go from their respective jobs and some will go to trial, accused of a crime that has yet to become public knowledge.

Remedios was in mourning this year. Too much pain in the town for people to even celebrate the good omens that pass from mouth to mouth during this important time, with a half-smile.