Havana/Transportation “is guaranteed.” This is announced, with a bombastic tone and administrative language, in the official communications released in Santiago de Cuba. The authorities report that there are several assigned buses, precise departure points, early schedules and secured routes. This is not, however, a structural improvement of the system or a relief for the thousands of citizens who are stranded every day at stops without service. The available fuel is destined for the acts of “funeral tribute to the Cuban combatants who fell in Venezuela”, scheduled this Thursday in the Plaza de la Revolución Antonio Maceo and, hours later, in the Santa Ifigenia cemetery.
The Provincial Transportation Company of Santiago de Cuba advertisement that has designed a “special assurance” to massively transfer the population to both scenarios. Starting at 5:30 in the morning, basic units will pick up attendees at at least twelve points in the main municipality – Abel Santamaría, Ciudamar, Punta Gorda, Caney, Boniato, Versalles, Altamira, among others – with the aim of guaranteeing massive attendance at the political-funeral event in the square. For the second ceremony, scheduled at four in the afternoon in Santa Ifigenia, deconcentration buses will be enabled in the Martí Prolongation.
This display contrasts directly with the situation that Santiago residents – and Cubans in general – experience in their daily lives. Just one day before, official notes and publications on institutional networks had announced the suspension or reduction of suburban and interurban routes due to “lack of fuel.”
The scene is repeated throughout the country, with routes canceled without prior notice
In Guantanamo, this Tuesday, local authorities bluntly recognized the magnitude of the problem. The Provincial Administration Council reported that urban routes 2, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 would be completely suspended “due to the fuel deficit”, leaving thousands of Guantanamo residents without public transportation for their usual trips. In the brief notice, the Government limited itself to recommending the use of “alternative means” and asking for “understanding”, a now common formula that transfers to citizens the cost of a crisis that the State itself admits it cannot manage.
Also in Havana, local authorities they recognized that almost all of the “gazelle” minibuses are stopped and that only a small group of these vehicles operate with restrictions and without being able to complete all the planned trips. The gazelles – a key piece of public transport in the capital – will operate “as long as fuel allows,” according to the brief official statement, which apologized for the inconvenience and promised to keep the population informed.
The scene is repeated throughout the country with routes canceled without prior notice, buses that do not leave, frequencies reduced to the extreme and workers who must walk kilometers to get to their workplaces. The fuel shortage, permanently recognized by the authorities, and aggravated after the US intervention in Caracas, which resulted in the arrest of Nicolás Maduro, is the standard explanation to justify collapsed public transport.
However, when the calendar marks a sensitive political date, the fuel appears in a miraculous way. The Antonio Maceo Revolution Square does not fill up on its own. Neither does Saint Iphigenia. “Spontaneous” attendance at these events requires planning, logistics and, above all, a lot of fuel. Thus, buses that do not circulate the rest of the week are put on the road to ensure the image of a people accompanying power in its heroic and sacrificial narrative.
