More Theft and More Corruption

More Theft and More Corruption / Gladys Linares
Posted on August 21, 2013

Havana, Cuba, August, www.cubanet.org — More than a month has passed
since the words of army general Raul Castro Ruz in the first ordinary
session of the eighth legislature of the National Assembly of Popular
Power in the Convention Hall, July 7, 2013. If some believed that after
that discourse things were going to improve, they were wrong. Time has
passed and still no measures have been taken to support the population.

To cite just some of the vicissitudes that confront the Cuban day after
day, we have the worst quality of bread, the price changes in the Hard
Currency Stores (TRD), as well as the lack of nylon bags in which to
pack purchases, that nevertheless are sold on corners by individuals;
the scarce and deficient repairs of leaks by Havana Water, the theft in
the farmers markets, the long lines of pensioners on the sidewalks, in
full sun and sometimes in the rain, to collect their pensions, and the
impediments imposed by many officials of state agencies — like the Civil
Registry and Housing — in hopes that the applicant will offer gifts or
money in order to streamline management.

Meanwhile, the administrators and public officials, the vast majority
militants of the Communist Party (PCC) — an essential requirement to
occupy management positions — remain insensitive before this situation.

The absence of directors or administrators when some client requires his
presence to express a complaint is common, and in the face of the
frustration, it is frequently heard: "There is no one here to fix it."
Others allege that the indolence of these is supported by the corruption
of many inspectors.

Tita also heard the words of Raul and thought that things soon would
change. Therefore, when she bought 10 pounds of yams at the farmers
market and ascertained that they had shorted her on the weight, she went
to see the administrator. This one listened to her without saying a
word, and left walking with her to the platform where the offender was
selling, and ordered him to fulfill the weight for the woman without
even verifying if she was right. Then he did nothing else except turn
and return to the office as if it was nothing.

My neighbor Robertico keeps buying breakfast bread quite early in the
morning. On asking him why he does not buy it the day before, in order
not to get up early, he answers me that if he does so, the next day the
bread has mold. Several consumers have complained, but the administrator
ignores them time and again.

Many bothered consumers ask themselves if among the Physical Planning
regulatory violations which Raul spoke about, they will include the
dwellings that, in order to facilitate certain blocks of commerce, they
are constructed in spaces seized from butchers, bodegas, dairies and
vegetables stands.

More than words are needed to end theft and corruption, two of the
greatest causes of moral and material damage that our society suffers.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gladys Linares. Born Cienfuegos, 1942. Primary teacher. She worked as a
geography teacher in different schools, and as the director of some of
them, for 32 years. She joined the Human Rights Movement at the end of
the 1990s through the Humanitarian Feminine Front organization. She
actively participated in the Cuban Council and the Varela Project. Her
reports reflect the daily life of the population.

20 August 2013

Source: "More Theft and More Corruption / Gladys Linares | Translating
Cuba" -
http://translatingcuba.com/more-theft-and-more-corruption-gladys-linares/