MIAMI, United States. – The Ecuadorian Joffre Campaña Mora, who presents himself on Twitter as a “lawyer by vocation” and “defender of freedoms and the rule of law”, reviewed on that social network his recent trip to Cuba.
Campaña Mora developed an extensive thread, arranged chronologically and thematically, which is aimed primarily at other foreigners. For the value of his testimony, CubaNet reproduces most of his tweets:
“The first impression upon arrival in Havana, the Jose Marti Airport. Old, neglected. In Immigration they kept my passport for about 20 minutes, until an official returned it to me and allowed me to enter.
“At the airport I thought about exchanging dollars. They paid me 24 pesos per dollar. They alerted me to change it on the street [era] 100 pesos per dollar. In the street, pesos, dollars and euros circulate equally”.
I took a taxi to take us [sic] to pick up the rented car. In the indicated place they told us that the car was not there. They sent us to another place, near the Art Museum. Value of the taxi, 50 dollars, that is, 5,000 Cuban pesos. The average monthly salary is 32 dollars.
“They gave us a damaged vehicle. $120 per day. With broken side lights. Plus $20 a day for insurance and $50 for fuel. It was the only car available. Then I found out that filling the tank costs eight dollars (very cheap) with special gasoline (the + expensive)”.
“The delivery of the car took almost three hours. We take the opportunity to have lunch at the beautiful Cha Cha Cha restaurant (private, not government). Normal lunch, $45. Remember that the average salary is 35 dollars”.
“With the car removed, we traveled to Camagüey. Due to the distance, after a torrential rain, we stayed in Cienfuegos. Lodging in a room rental (house with rooms for rent). 20 dollars. The homemade dinner, 30 dollars”.
“Roads in general 5/10. Some sections are acceptable, others regular, others bad and others lousy. In some cases eight lanes, in others one and a half (due to their narrowness)”.
“After Cienfuegos, Camagüey. A city designed by Spanish, but very neglected. As if stopped in time (just like the rest of Cuba). Public transport (horse carts, pedicabs, trucks) dire”.
“Camagüey has its charm, but the situation is dire. Rows to buy food, very poor pharmacies. Stores that sell food only with credit cards (for foreigners in short and privileged locals with relatives abroad)”.
“In Cuba, food in the markets is very expensive. Some are found, but at prices unattainable for most. A pork leg, for example, 40 dollars. A string of garlic six dollars”.
“On the highway you can find ‘paladares’, that is, privately owned restaurants (with babysitting included, guajiro), 1,160 pesos. The professional, doctor or civil servant earns approx. 3,500 pesos per month. The best paid, approx. 5000 pesos [por] month”.
“Then the Keys. Another country. The normal Cuban cannot enter there. They do not accept cash, only credit cards. A fabulous engineering work, with luxury hotels, and even a dolphinarium”.
“Finally Havana. A city that could be spectacular, totally abandoned”.
“In short, what could be a wonderful country is a country destroyed by communism and by the story of equality. Cuba is a country of enormous differences, in which foreigners are privileged and in [el] that taxi drivers earn more than neurosurgeons.”
“Other details. Health is in theory free. But patients must even wear gloves. For example, in dental matters, patients must wear the resin. Otherwise, they cannot serve you. Pharmacies totally out of stock.”
“In addition, there are power outages of between eight and ten hours a day. The situation is dramatic. Some Cubans told me that they eat sugar water for dinner.”
“In Cuba there are first class, second class and third class citizens. First, the top of the government. Second, the Cubans who can buy in the Panamericana stores[s] that only allow payments by credit card or with virtual cards charged abroad. Third, the others”.
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