SANTIAGO DE CUBA. – At the end of October, the Liquefied Gas Company advertisement that as of November 4, the supply of that fuel in Havana, Artemisa and Mayabeque would be affected. However, in Santiago de Cubawhich was not mentioned, the deficit is previous. In this scenario, similar to that of the 90s of the last century – without gas and with electricity outages of up to more than 20 hours in a row in some regions – Cubans have had to return to charcoal and firewood, now as the main means of cooking. .
“We have had to dust off the old methods of Special Period and worse. For more than a month I have been cooking with charcoal, but there is no longer any; If it appears it is at 1,000 or 1,200 pesos a bag, so I went for the wood stove. The smoke makes me sick, now with the rainy weather, I have to light it inside the kitchen because of the humidity,” explains Dalia Ávila, who lives in Palma Soriano, Santiago de Cuba.
In this new era of coal, a bag of four cans can cost up to 2,000 pesos in provinces such as Villa Clara, Havana and Holguín (just two months ago it did not exceed 400). At the same time, in the eastern part of the Island the business of stoves called “anafre” has resurfaced, which cost more than 4,000 pesos, depending on the model.
“We returned to the Middle Ages. The misfortunes in this country do not come alone nor do they cease to surprise me. Now to spend even what we don’t have to invest in firewood and charcoal. “This is the end of the tunnel,” said Ávila.
It is at least incongruous that in the 21st century, the Cuban Government sells firewood and charcoal to the population, as has happened in Santiago de Cuba and Granmafor example, due to the state’s inability to meet electricity demand, as well as the supply of liquefied gas.
Cooking in these conditions not only negatively impacts the standard of living of Cubans, since many low-income households do not have the means to cover these new expenses, but also brings with it health problems due to the inhalation of toxic gases.
“In these processes, incomplete combustion releases particles with components harmful to human health, mainly affecting children and older adults, in addition to those people in charge of home care, who spend more time with these fuels and who are “mostly women,” he says. a report from the Food Monitor Program.
Likewise, the NGO warned that “this cooking is carried out in open and improvised stoves, in poorly functioning stoves and without the required utensils, sometimes on public roads in front of the home, or even within poorly ventilated spaces.”
In this sense, people who live in multi-family buildings are the most affected. Such is the case of Gloria Díaz, whose cough and burning eyes have not gone away since she began cooking with firewood on the small balcony of her fifth-floor apartment, located in the Santiago neighborhood of Los Maceo. Her husband is also suffering from the same allergic reaction.
“I can already feel the smoke and the smell of embers, even though the stove is off. My eyes are watering and I can’t sleep because of the cough; “This is going to kill me,” laments the 57-year-old woman.
