Life in Cuba, living under some sort of Communist regime for nearly 70 years, has been a longstanding struggle.
The lack of access to jobs, food and medical assistance has been long documented. When the COVID-19 pandemic made things worse, suffering reached a tipping point, and in the last week protests have broken out all over the island nation.
Eleyn Galvez, whose husband is in Santo Domingo, Cuba, now and is trying to arrange his departure, and former Kissimmee Mayor Jose Alvarez, were both born on the island and have family still there. They were getting first-hand accounts of political demonstrations and health and human services concerns — at least they could before Internet access was largely shut down last weekend.
Galvez has helped organize a couple of smaller demonstrations on Osceola County and Orlando street corners in the last week to bring to light the number of protestors in Cuba being arrested for railing against the lack of food and medicine — she said there’s an insulin “black market” for Cuban diabetics — and other poor conditions there.
“I am a Cuban residing in the United States who only wants an opportunity to help my people in their journey to freedom,” she said.
When it comes to treating COVID-19, Galvez said there are vaccines in Cuba, but only to those who can afford being treated in hospitals.
“A lot of people think this is just about COVID-19,” she said. “But there are more people starving and dying than ever, and we can’t even get their bodies out of houses for two to three days.”
Alvarez said he’d been told the Cuban government has been selling vaccines it receives from other countries inside and outside of Cuba. He also said the voices of protests are now loud because, for the first time in decades, they are coming from young people.
“In 1953 the youth of the country rose up against (President Fulgencio) Batista. This government is worried that that has worked,” he said. “European reporters have been hiding in Cuba, but now they can’t get their content out. The government is looking for them. Protestors are being arrested and a few are executed, and it’s spreading through the island.”
This week Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel chose to partially blame the U.S. Government, especially the former Trump administration, but also blamed the current Biden administration. He noted the 600,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19 and the U.S.’s own track record of racism.
“If President Joseph Biden had sincere humanitarian concern for the Cuban people, he could eliminate the 243 measures applied by President Donald Trump, including the more than 50 cruelly imposed during the pandemic, as a first step towards ending the blockade … The U.S. has failed to destroy Cuba even though it has wasted billions of dollars to do so.”
Galvez said that someone who is well nourished might be able to handle the symptoms better, but that is not the case in Cuba.
“Food has never been this expensive,” she said. “A pound of pork meat cost 60 pesos (about $2), but a doctor’s monthly salary is about 700 pesos.
“These protests are fueled by hunger, tears, and desperation. They know marching can cost them their lives. When you have a dead family member’s blood seeping through your living room floor while their body rests on a table you can no longer put food on, all fear is lost.”
Alvarez said the United States alone can’t cure what ails the Cuban people.
“The finger pointing needs to stop. No U.S. administration has helped things there. There needs to be involvement from the United Nations to shut down the Cuban government’s foreign bank accounts, denounce this Cuban government and demand free elections. There needs to be a coalition of countries. Cuba can do business with whoever it likes, but the U.S. won’t deal with Cuba thanks to this current embargo.”
In the meantime, those who can use their voices, especially in social media, should continue to speak out about what Cubans are experiencing, Alvarez said.
“Use social media to speak out,” he said. “Those young kids in the streets need help trying to get a resolution.”
