Unless the castro regime changes course and provides the minimum required of a functioning government, i.e. protecting the lives and well being of its citizenry, there is going to be a horrific healthcare crisis in Cuba.
The long neglected infrastructure can no longer support the population of Cuba. The well publicized problems of gutted buildings, broken plumbing, inadequate utilities, lack of transportation, and unequal distribution of goods and services are putting Cubans at risk for widespread disease.
The Cuban government recently announced they will spend 185 million to upgrade facilities for tourists. Meanwhile, large numbers of Cuban citizens lack potable water.
There have been reports of raw sewage in the streets, and dengue fever outbreaks covered up by the regime. Today there are two stories from Cuba about the lack of potable water in Cuba:
From Cubanet– Guillermo Fariñas reports that nearly two thousand people of Villa Clara are suffering from diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration. Area doctor Julio Cárdenas Airado told Fariñas the cause is the poor quality of water.
From Payolibre– Tania Maceda Guerra reports that in the Cambute area of Havana, people have been without potable water since the 19th of June. The problem is broken pipes. Officials are aware of the problem and said they would “try” to fix it, but typically, they haven’t. Meanwhile residents are running out of water and are using water from a contaminated cistern.
There is no question that the provision of safe drinking water and proper disposal of human excreta is the single most important factor in maintaining public health and Cuba’s 48 years of mismanaged neglect puts Cubans at risk.
4 thoughts on “Cuba at Risk”
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Ziva,
Great report. I’m not surprised. The lack of “infrastructure” may be boring to some, but I’ve always felt that it was key to bringing Cuba back.
Tomas Estrada Palma also has hit on this very effectively.
Maybe I’m a “one trick pony” but I’ve always seen this as priority number one in a post fidel Cuba.
Bravo, Good info.
Thank you Jack, I agree with you. Rebuilding Cuba has to begin with providing livable conditions for Cubans. There can’t be any real improvement in Cuba’s economy until that happens. How can you expect a work force to be productive without decent housing, plumbing, transportation and adequate food? Not possible.
Cover up for the Dengue outbreaks is no new in Cuba. I think that many of us can account for some kind of incident were some kind of cover up took place. I am from the same city of Guillermo Farinas, and remember back in the seventies, when there was another outbreak one particular incident involving a family that was very close to me.
I remember a blind old man that used to live with his family in the ground floor of my home. He got Dengue fiver, and being of such an advanced age, was unable to recover from the fiver and passed away. Since it happened at home, a doctor was sent to fill up the death certificated. When the good doctor asked for the cause of death and his relatives answer. He explained to them that due to “Party directives” it will get him in trouble if he writes “Dengue” in the certificated. So, in middle of their pain, they actually had to come on with some kind of false cause of death… The government wanted to claim that no one had die from Dengue during the outbreak. I assume that the same thing is happening now.
Perhaps some one, some day, will have the time and dedication of properly document all those accounts of lies and deceptions for futures generations to learn what was Cuba really like during the second half of the twentieth century.
Excellent piece Ziva!!!