Elderly people who go to buy bread in a nearby store, customers of an adjoining store, students who go to or come back from school on the popular and central Monte Street at the height of Águila Street, all are among the potential victims of the guillotine.
Neighbors have given this name to the side wall of a building because of its resemblance to the French artifact invented more than 200 years ago to behead inmates sentenced to death. “The guillotine at any moment a bill is passed to one of the old men who stand in line to buy bread, “he explains to 14ymedio Ramón, a resident of the area, who points out that the store dispatches twice a day and many older people accumulate at the door for hours to be able to buy.
This situation causes that, sometimes, the line extends so much that many people remain just below the structure in danger of collapse.
The hustle and bustle generated by traffic, the honking of vehicles and the din of passersby who walk through the sales of the self-employed from portal to portal make the imminent danger that lurks silently over the heads of many go unnoticed. The neighbors, aware of the risk, demand a solution from the authorities before a misfortune occurs.
“The guillotine at any moment takes its toll on one of the old men who stand in line to buy bread,” Ramón, a resident of the area, explains to 14ymedio.
This Monday, around four in the afternoon, a line formed outside the Monte Nuevo bakery. Julio, a 67-year-old retiree, said he was unaware of the existence of the guillotine. “I have been coming here for months looking for bread, and I had not noticed. Now I do not walk under that place anymore,” he says without further ado.
“The miserable retirement that I collect, the pandemic and the crisis that this government has caused have wreaked havoc on my mind. Survival in these times is very difficult for ordinary Cubans, while they [los gobernantes] they live like kings. “
Julio remembers that a few days ago, about 200 meters from the bakery, a man lost his life due to the collapse of a building that had a demolition order 15 years ago. “Do you know when they are going to come running to repair or demolish that? When it collapses and causes another death. Another Cuban squashed like a cockroach,” he says while pointing his index finger at a small group of high school students, who it passes underneath the structure in poor condition. “I hope he’s not one of those guys,” he adds.
“Desidia” is the first word that comes to the mind of the person in charge of putting chlorine in the hands of those who frequent the Monte y Águila Panamericana store when asked why the store is not fixed or demolished. guillotine. “Luckily, everything indicates that the building is in good condition. The only bad thing is that side wall,” he tells 14ymedio.
The worker assures that a long time ago the adjoining building was dismantled, leaving the side in the open. Corrosion has affected the wall for years, causing it to fall apart and begin to show structural damage to the corner.
The huge crack that originates at the base of the first floor and reaches the roof of the third floor of the Máximo Gómez (Monte) and Águila building makes the structure support itself with less and less force. “On other occasions their good rocks have fallen, but, fortunately, no one has been injured,” continues the store clerk. “Then someone from the Government appears and orders to put a tape to prevent the passage underneath,” he explains, although, as the days go by, “the tape disappears again and people trust and pass.”
About six meters from the wall there is a bathroom that receives hundreds of people every day, but the self-employed who manages it knows well that his chair should be located “as far as possible from that wall, in case it collapses.”
Next to him, another retiree who survives selling nylon jabitas sums up the situation: “What we are experiencing is a disgrace, because that problem with the wall can be solved in a moment if they close the passage under the portal, or in a couple days if they come to demolish “. According to him, there are many who border the danger zone, however, “there are more who pass by, fleeing from the sun.”
“We know that it is possible, because in the collapse of the other day, in less than 24 hours they had cleaned and propped up everything,” he adds. “Of course, but everything so fast because there was a death and that does not suit the leaders, because it is bad publicity for tourists. They do not fix the guillotine because, simply, nobody cares. “For the moment.
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