A Flooded May Day in Havana

A Flooded May Day in Havana / Yoani Sanchez
Posted on May 1, 2015

Yoani Sanchez, 1 May 2015 – The El Cerro neighborhood is mud and tears
right now. One of Havana's most populous municipalities is trying to
recover from the surprise rains that left three dead in the city, more
than 1,400 houses affected and 27 partial or total building collapses.
Many families lost their most precious belonging and the whole city has
that smell that is left after floods, a mixture of sewage, garbage and pain.

The main scene of the tragedy experienced in the Havana capital is
indoors, in the homes where they couldn't save even a chair, but the
official press tries to minimize it because it happened a few hours
before the "triumphant" First of May, which is meant to show the world
"the Cuban people's attachment to the socialist system."

The drama of those still cleaning out the mud with own efforts,
shoveling it from their living rooms and bedrooms, doesn't fit with
today's "workers' glory," foreign guests, and even Nicolas Maduro's trip
to share the platform in the Plaza of the Revolution with those who live
in houses well-protected from inclement weather. Meanwhile, a few yards
from the place where they waved flags and chanted slogans this morning,
those affected by Wednesday's storm tried to recapture the rhythm of
their lives. The high water mark, which reached nearly six feet in some
areas, is still fresh on the facades and in memories.

There are countries where it costs a president his job if he doesn't
personally go to the scene of an accident or a natural disaster. The
absence of government officials in an area affected by a storm, a
volcano or an earthquake earns the enmity of the citizens in many
places, and the condemnation of the international community. In Cuba,
however, fanfare has been imposed as a strategy to divert attention from
the problems. This May Day has been an example of how official
propaganda privileges triumphalism and minimizes misery.

A lady was sitting on the corner of Amenidad and Infanta Streets this
morning, looking at the sky. Her hands wet from bailing out the water
from the downstairs apartment where she lives. "I'm just waiting for the
parade to end," she said in a loud voice to anyone who would listen,
with that wave of courage that overcomes us when we no longer have
anything to lose. "When that's over, maybe they will remember us," she
reaffirmed with a certain illusion.

They didn't organize any parties in this miserable place. Out of shame,
they should have suspended a parade that has cost thousands of pesos
needed to help the victims. A little political sanity would have been
required… but, who can ask those who have lived as well-to-do
bourgeoisie for 56 years to think like the proletariat?

Source: A Flooded May Day in Havana / Yoani Sanchez | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/a-flooded-may-day-in-havana-yoani-sanchez/