How does the Cuban live? (II)

by  Eduardo Maro (PD) Within Cuba, despite the propaganda, there are several classes of Cubans. Social classes antagonistic worse than in capitalism, because the superior has all the power and stifles and crushes the others below, when we should all be equal.

Before 1959, the wealthy and powerful did not conceal themselves to be one, nor did they pretend that those below would believe otherwise.

The visitor (very hypothetical and improbably) to a residence in the elegant and expensive neighborhoods of yesteryear (Siboney, Atabey, Cubanacan, Nuevo Vedado, Kholy) where political leaders and senior military residences, heavily guarded neighborhoods, will see a house Which takes half a block, a high wall around it that makes it impossible to see inwards. If you are invited to enter, you will notice how well-kept the place, domestic employees, well-stocked pantry, exaggerated spaciousness, a fifty-inch flat screen TV on with availability of several foreign cable channels, including CNN; You probably see several desktops in the rooms, some laptop lying on the sofa, connected to the Internet. There will be attached a garage for three cars, usually Audi, Mercedes, BMW or VW.

Its residents will tell you that Cuba is the best in the world and that its sovereignty, idiosyncrasy and government system must be respected.

For this kind of new socialist wealthy does not really matter money (though they have it), but power, relationships and influences. This group has no need to violate any law or regulation, at least visibly. These people have their exclusive shops and markets, as well as their clinics. You will visit, less difficult, an apartment in Miramar, spacious, where they may rent to tourists. They may have a fifty-inch TV, but they will no longer have cable channels or satellite antenna. You will discover later, as you make friends with these people, that even though they may be adept at government, they pay some other neighbor for a clandestine cable to be able to see the Spanish-speaking American stations, which is a sin in this nation , So if they are discovered they will impose high fines, and they will remove the cable and the antennas. Cubans can only watch official TV. Except those of the upper class.

The owner of the house will arrive in his car Lada, or Geely, in very good condition and leave it in the exclusive and guarded parking of the basement.

These two previous homes will always have central air conditioning. Almost all of its inhabitants are sullen and tend to speak little to each other, outside of their inner circle, although they are very polite and kind when the case comes. They are decidedly socialists or revolutionaries.

It will be more affordable to get to a house in Centro Habana, Diez de Octubre or Old Havana in a good construction state and enter a home of very friendly people, usually with some private business as rent rooms to tourists (not Cubans) Or some elegant cafeteria or palate (restaurant). You'll see a twenty- or thirty-inch flat-panel TV. You will notice an average comfort. They may have the cable (illegal antenna) but they will be very cautious with this and turn the equipment off when strangers arrive. They may be musicians, renowned artists, artisans, successful literati, or half-bred bandits (white-collared people belong to the upper classes). They attend the same markets as everyone else below, but they have higher incomes so they are better served. They will attend the same hospitals and polyclinics as the ones below, but because they can leave more tips, they will not suffer the long waits for the absences of doctors, or other essential personnel, or the serious shortages of medicines that do not know those of above. These people are quietly silent their political opinions. They fear losing what little they have or have achieved with so much effort.

To the homes of people of the lower class you can enter very easily if invited. They are always extremely friendly and if they have a TV it is some old. The doors are kept open. There are no antennas or cables. The furniture is old and can be dirty. If they see computer it will be a P3 or something similar, already cacharreado. Boys will have old IPhone's with scandalous games or music incorporated. They usually dress and peel in the style of American rappers, regardless of race. They will always have few material supplies (they will appreciate you giving them twenty cuc, which will go directly and immediately to the nearest market) and many difficulties with transportation, the very inefficient health system, the unfriendly and rough police, inspectors, etc. Their homes do not have a garage, and if they have a car, it will be a rebuilt antediluvian tank-style war tank, designed to carry numerous passengers through the shattered streets. If there is a garage, it will be external and made with oxidized steel plates or other waste materials. These are the workers or workers of all kinds, who survive on a tiny salary and invented something that gives them a little more cash to survive. The vast majority is not hidden to express their discontent with the government, in various degrees according to their information and intelligence. Some old communists will be reluctant to criticize the system even though they are visibly going badly: they instilled in them.

The ultra-low class resides in the many suburban slums or in areas where there are also very central urban slums, including El Vedado, the old center of the city (today there is no defined center). This is the undeveloped southern part of Old Havana, much of Downtown Havana, very deteriorated, El Cerro, La Lisa, and another very large part of the present urbanizations. It is not advisable to visit non-residents and unfamiliar with these places. They are never welcome, and if they are, they will not come out well. Here are the chronic unemployed, drug traffickers and all sorts of things. Police and other authorities make little inroads into these homes. The dwellings are usually smelly covillas, often lacking in potable water, or poorly built mansions built with no plan or previous design, prison-style latticework to prevent theft. Those who can devote some thought to politics are aggressively opposed to the government.Many are illegal in the capital and reside in arrival-and-pon and very isolated houses, hidden and illegal, made with any material in generally unhealthy places. 
Unfortunately, the lower and upper classes belong to ninety percent of the urban population.

In the countryside, they usually live in unhealthy housing and enjoy little culture in proportion to the Cuban average. They do not have remarkable electronic artifacts, much less computers or Internet access. Their international information is very scarce and they tend to believe in official propaganda. 
Eduardom57@nauta.cu; Eduardo Maro