Lockdown Tears at the Fabric of Our Society
It’s no secret that violence is on the rise in Cuba. Brawls on the street, at the beach, in lines, femicides… Everything stinks of poverty, hunger, death and desperation for ordinary Cubans. It’s as if they couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The breakdown of our society has sped up amidst the pandemic. “People are aggressive, you can barely talk or brush past someone.” The lack of transparency in the government media doesn’t reveal what Cuban people’s lives are really like today.
While the government is trying to counteract this with fraudulent propaganda campaigns to depict everything as perfect on the island, the Cuban people are fighting to survive with the bare minimum.
Women are suffering once again during this lockdown with a curfew. Many Cuban women are living the worse moments of their lives, right now.
The need for basic products (hygiene and food) is driving the vast majority of them to despair. They can’t choose between standing in a 3 or 4-hour line and exposing their children to the virus.
Plus, women are once again facing a rise in domestic violence as their partners are drinking heavily. This is due to a lack of work and the stress of five months in lockdown.
However, the news doesn’t cover the deaths of women killed by their husbands, or the need for a law to protect them.
Some are convinced that the psychological scars that COVID-19 leaves behind, will be irreparable. I would dare to say that in spite of us having tough and resistant skin, today’s situation is heading towards a social explosion. Something might already be in the works. The breakdown of our society during this lockdown shouldn’t be measured in numbers, but in NAMES.