The Camels of the Apocalypse

It’s the end of another error in Cuba.
The infamous “camello” people movers are being “put to pasture” according to this article from the Chicago Tribune:

Cuban officials last month unveiled 552 new, cleaner-running Yutong buses from China for intercity travel in Havana, with hundreds more to arrive by December. Last year, Cuba bought 1,000 coach buses from China for long-distance travel among provinces.

The new buses are replacing the old “camellos” described in all their glory by Tribune correspondent Michael Martinez :

The worst of Cuba’s aging buses is called “the camel.” It looks even uglier than that.
It’s actually a tractor-trailer that hauls a homemade double-humped cabin made of two bus shells welded together, a peculiarly Cuban contrivance whose patchwork conjures up a post-apocalyptic image of transit.

I like that: post-apocalyptic. The whole island conjures up a post-apocalyptic version of life. People lining up for scarce food, living in crumbling cities with decaying infrastructures while the privileged and foreigners romp in modern playgrounds untouched by castro’s post-apocalyptic vision of Cuba.
He tried to bring about a world-wide apocalypse in 1962, but couldn’t. So, he decided to settle for a localized apocalyptic experience instead.
CAMBIO

2 thoughts on “The Camels of the Apocalypse”

  1. Gusano –
    The “CAMELLO” may be about gone – AND – remember my friend, the Yutongs will be driven and run by the same “transit company.” They will soon be known as “Chinese Aspirin.” -S-

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