El Nino and the Old Man

El Nino and the Old Man / Rebeca Monzo
Posted on January 24, 2016

Rebeca Monzo, Havana, 23 January 2016 — Here on my planet Cuba, the lack
of products in the food markets, the shortages in the stores selling in
the badly named "national currency," as well as in the stores called
"Hard Currency Collection Stores, the collapse of the buildings in poor
conditions and without maintenance for so many years, the clogging of
sewers and drains, the piles of trash not collected on time and its
being washed away by the downpours, with the resulting flooding, the
salaries and pensions that barely stretch to cover the most precarious
needs of the individual, are all disasters blamed on imperialism and
now, more recently, the El Niño phenomenon.

It is true that this weather phenomenon has brought grave consequences
to many countries, where there are poor people living in precarious
housing. But it is no less true that in cities like Havana, where the
urban design and architectures are still sources of admiration for much
of the developed world, all these consequences we are suffering today,
are not only due to the antics of "The Little Boy," but to the bad
administration and indifference of the Old Man.

While the decadent old system continues on without taking the essential
measures to better maintain the streets, sewers and housing, there is a
National Assembly of People's Power that can't do anything and a
government on the island that continues on entrenched in its obsolete
ideas, without fostering the essential political, economic and social
changes. As long as this continues the Cuban people will continue to
suffer the ravages and consequences of these two phenomena: climate and
governance.

Source: El Nino and the Old Man / Rebeca Monzo | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/el-nino-and-the-old-man-rebeca-monzo/