Miami, United States. – Cuban journalist Guillermo Carmona Rodríguez, from the state newspaper Girónhe said in An article Published this February 5 how the energy crisis and government bureaucracy delayed the transfer of their deceased grandmother.
According to Carmona, his family tried to manage the funeral after years of agony from his grandmother, who died in Matanzas and had to be transferred to Manguito, a town in the province of Matanzas. However, the lack of fuel and the impossibility of replenishing funeral vehicles due to blackouts and government restrictions hindered the process.
“At the funeral home, with everything spoken, I ask if the car that was parking outside was the one that would take us and answer me no, that had little fuel, that he waited for the next one,” said the journalist. When another vehicle finally appeared, the response was the same: “gasoline is not enough.”
Carmona also explained that the service stations have structures to work during the blackouts, but that these can only be activated with the authorization of a specific government official, who at that time did not respond the calls.
“They called the Lord, but he did not respond or the phone turned off or outside the coverage area,” the journalist denounced, highlighting the extreme centralism that characterizes the management of resources in Cuba.
The time passed, and the family feared that the delay prevented the burial before dusk. “If the situation continued the same course, we would be forced to ensure it, something that, not to stretch sorrows and pains we wanted to avoid at all costs,” said Carmona.
Finally, after a long wait, fuel was achieved and transfer. “Luckily, perhaps the deficit went down and one of the ‘Servi’ was able to provide,” wrote the journalist.
During the journey, Carmona spoke with the driver of the funeral car, who confirmed that situations like this are frequent. “I asked the driver if cases like the occurred were common. He replied that, unfortunately, more than he wanted, ”he said.
The journalist, although he avoids directly responsible for the government, does indicate structural failures that affect not only funeral services, but also medical care and patient transfer. “What happened at the funeral home could also happen for other services, such as ambulances or taxis that transfer patients who require dialysis,” he warned.
In addition, Carmona questioned the dependence of a single official to authorize the use of electrogen groups in gas stations and proposed that exclusive service stations be enabled to attend emergencies of this type. “If we know that the country is going through a complex energy context, which has been sustained for several years, effective measures must be taken to stop these contingencies,” he wrote.
Finally, the journalist regretted: “There was the feeling that even dying is an entanglement, a bureaucratic procedure, a tropical surrealism.”
