The image of children sleeping in the gardens of the hotel located on 1st and 70th, in the Havana municipality of Playaprovoked several days ago a wave of citizen indignation and the response of the Government of Havana.
The scene, which went viral on social networks, highlighted a growing problem: the presence of minors living on the street in the Cuban capital.
The director of the 1st and 70th promenade, Yadelis Valencia, confirmed that she had been alerting the authorities for months “without getting a response,” and that Only after the public scandal did a government team go to the area.
The authorities recognized that the situation “had increased since the beginning of the summer” and visited the children’s schools and homes, according to national television.
In the report it was known that “measures were adopted with the family members who failed to comply with the duty to protect the minor and with the institutions where the events occurred.”
The Vice Minister of Labor and Social Security, Yaniris Hernández Vento, explained that The children came from “dysfunctional families”where parents “do not fulfill the responsibility they should have with minors.”
According to him, some exhibit “inappropriate behavior” both at school and in their communities.
For her part, the Deputy Attorney General of the Republic, Alina Montesinos Lee, reported that criminal proceedings were opened against several parents for “serious breach of parental responsibility.”
Crisis and daily life in Cuba: What does street sociology say?
Reactions in the community and among public representatives
Neighbors of the area assured that Children used to approach tourists asking for “a peso or a dollar to eat.”and that the scene has become increasingly common in tourist and commercial areas.
“A few years ago that had never been seen, now there are children begging at all the traffic lights and stores,” commented a resident on social networks.
The complaint also mobilized local representatives. The deputy for the Playa municipality, Carlos Miguel Pérez Reyes, stressed that “picking up minors does not, by itself, solve the root of the phenomenon.”
Likewise, he asked to evaluate the capacity for coordination between the agencies of Minors, Labor and Social Security, Education, Public Health and local governments to offer “comprehensive and sustained care” to families in vulnerable situations.
Reflection of a deeper crisis
The phenomenon is not isolated. According to journalist Pedro Jorge Velázquez, The children in the image “have been hanging around that area of 1st and 70th for some time,” but in the last month “their number has increased noticeably.”
Also in other parts of Havana, such as Old Havana and Centro Habana, neighbors and delegates report the presence of minors asking for money or food.
Delegate Rolando Ginarte, from Old Havana, warned that “there are many children besieging tourism and hanging around the city until late at night.”
In the educational field, The Vice Minister of Education, Marlen Triana Mederos, recognized that there are children who do not attend classes and assured that it is up to schools to issue alerts in these cases.
However, he admitted that notifications do not always occur on time.
The television report that accompanied the authorities’ visit revealed deeper causes: lack of social workers, ineffectiveness of schools to detect prolonged absences and serious economic precariousness which pushes many minors to seek sustenance on the streets.
Policies and commitments
The Television News recalled that Cuba is a signatory of international agreements that ratify zero tolerance for child labor, begging and corruption of minors, and that there are public policies to guarantee the protection and development of children.
However, the economic crisislow wages and inflation have eroded the ability of many families to meet basic needsand the institutions in charge of ensuring children’s rights do not always act with the necessary speed and coordination.
The image of the children sleeping in the gardens of the Playa hotel, more than a specific incident, reflects a social deterioration and the urgency of a comprehensive response that is not limited to sanctions, but rather addresses the structural causes of the poverty that children face in Cuba.
