Abandoned by the society they created

[El Presidente]

Good Read

Members of Cuba’s revolutionary generation feel abandoned by the society they created

Older Cubans are struggling to make ends meet on tiny pensions as the country pivots towards private enterprise

 

Ruaridh Nicoll and Eileen Sosin in Havana

Sat 13 Jul 2024 05.30 EDT

 

In central Havana, Martha Ortega has been queueing for mince. She has both osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis causing her foot to drag, but she remains stylish, a checked shirt and denim handbag giving her the air of an 80-year-old cowgirl.

Until five years ago, Ortega was a receptionist in a local office of the Communist party of Cuba. Her pension is 1,575 pesos a month, but in the last three years, inflation has reduced its value to less than $5. “I try to spread it between food, medicines, whatever I can,” she says.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/13/cuba-revolutionary-generation-old-age

 

[NSXCIGAR]

It may not be what was promised, but he adds that Cubans should remember how lucky they are compared with people from countries with the problems of organ theft, human trafficking and drugs. “We sometimes lack the ability to appreciate what we have,” he says

If I had a nickel for every time someone tried to steal my organs...