M. Beretta: Journal photos by stories, stories by photos

CUBA | Sunday, 13 January 2013 | Views [376] | View Smaller Image

Behind this bars it can be read “¡Freedom for the five heroes!” as in many walls in La Habana, Matanzas, along with the cities of Cienfuegos and Santa Clara (this last one where the human remains of the Cuban liberator, Ernesto Che Guevara, rest). “Who are the Five Cuban Heroes jailed in the U.S.?”, explains a poster at the International Airport of Cuba, “Five young professionals who decided to devote their lives, away from their homeland, to fight against terrorism in the city of Miami, the hub of most aggressions against Cuba. No fair and impartial trial was possible… we demand justice, free them”. Manuel Viramontes, Luis Medina, Antonio Guerrero, Rubén Campa and René González, all sentenced to life- imprisonment. Their families continue waiting for a fair trial.

Early morning in Matanzas, one of the largest cities in Cuba, located at 100 km. from La Habana, there’s a man with his head between his legs in front of one of the many libraries in Matanzas, city known as “The Athens of Cuba” because of its cultural lifestyle. This year “matenceros”, the locals, are celebrating the 140th anniversary of José Marti’s birth, national hero and one of the most prestigious Latin American poets, however… outside this library there’s a feeling of an unknown kind of sorrow. Education percentage in Cuba is of 100 according to Castro and his brother Raul, the actual president. It’s free; the main part of cuban population has gotten a degree at the university but the reality is that only a few get their main money income from their studies. Only the 2 percent of the population has internet access and the monthly salary of 16-18 American dollars (aprox.) is mainly used “just to survive”, in words of many Cubans.

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Since the U.S. economic freeze was established in Cuba, the “good times” of the 1930’s and 40’s finished and an age of scarcity began, not only in food but in clothing and industrial machinery parts. There’s a say in the city of Matanzas which describes how the Cuban make the best use of every material: “If you’re willing to throw away something… don’t do it and give it to a Cuban”. “The King of coconut” (el Rey del Coco), located in the small local market of Matanzas, extracts the coconut pulp with the aid of a handmade piece of machinery: a pierced bucket, an electric bobbin connected to a screw helix for the coconut scraping, all made by himself out from his engineering instinct. There’s no such thing as waste in the island, everything is valuable and essential.

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M. Beretta: Journal photos by stories, stories by photos

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