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Caribbean Sea Reporter Dánica Coto Back cuba In late January, it had been more than three years since she last visited the island.
The look and life in Cuba is very different now, and more changes are expected to come since the U.S. attack on Cuba. VenezuelaCuba’s most powerful ally has yet to fully feel it.
Here’s Cotto’s interview with AP editor Laura Martinez.
How has Cuba changed since your last visit?
I was shocked by the amount of trash piling up in the corners of popular tourist spots and the occasional Cuban in neatly pressed clothes rummaging through the trash. I observed a clean-cut man walk into a pile of soggy trash, grab a small plastic container, fish out its lid, and walk away with his findings.
Fuel was hard to come by, equipment such as tractors and garbage trucks broke down, and crews were unable to find necessary spare parts.
I also noticed that Havana’s beautiful buildings were more crumbling than ever. In some areas, once-bright facades ranging from Baroque to Art Nouveau are slowly turning into rubble.
By night, the skyline is largely dark, with extended power outages (both planned and unplanned) plunging the capital and its surrounding areas into darkness.
Also, I was pleasantly surprised to see some dog owners Havana. I saw Cubans getting up early to walk their dogs, the smaller dogs wearing T-shirts to protect them from the late January cold snap.
What moved you most?
The smallest things reveal the most. The upgraded hotel where I stayed cut flimsy napkins in half to conserve resources and occasionally provided a small amount of butter when available.
Meanwhile, it’s not uncommon for office buildings in Havana to be short of toilet paper and for water to go out around mid-afternoon.
More and more Cubans are turning to firewood and charcoal for cooking because not only are power outages frequent, but natural gas is not always available and many cannot afford solar panels.
Sometimes fuel and gas are so scarce that a group of people living in the city build a makeshift fireplace outside their building to cook.
I also saw people scrambling to rearrange their schedules so they could spend hours lining up for gas. I also observed people crowding outside banks, and Cubans told me there was a cash shortage.
Cubans also told me they’ve seen an increase in communications outages, making it more difficult to make phone calls or browse online.
How are Cubans faring after the U.S. attack on Venezuela?
They are basically self-sufficient. Cubans are mentally strong, and many lived through the so-called Special Period, the economic depression that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. Things eased during this period when Venezuela became an ally under former President Hugo Chavez.
Even before the U.S. attack on Venezuela, Cuba was struggling with severe power outages, soaring prices and a lack of basic goods. Experts say disruptions to oil shipments from Venezuela and Mexico could trigger a potentially catastrophic crisis, especially since U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that would impose tariffs on any goods from countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba.
Overall, many Cubans I spoke to were dismissive of impending doom, and experts said the Trump administration’s goal was to spark a popular uprising in the hope of establishing a new government. But Cubans say they will not be manipulated by outside forces. Meanwhile, some are preparing, even though they suspect an invasion is coming. Those who can afford it are installing solar panels, while others are growing their own produce.
What’s next for Cuba?
It’s hard to say. The US government is ramping up its rhetoric, with Trump asserting that Cuba is failing, while US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau recently claimed that “the Castro regime is crumbling… after 67 years of failed revolution”.
Secretary of State of the United States Marco RubioThe son of Cuban immigrants has said the U.S. government seeks “opportunities to change the dynamics. This is a backward country. It doesn’t have a functioning economy.”
Under Trump, the administration again labeled Cuba a state sponsor of terrorism.
At the same time, the Cuban government has not changed its provocative rhetoric. Cubans went about their own business while denouncing the U.S. embargo and trying to find ways to survive.
The slogan “Patria o muerte, venceremos!” “Fatherland or death, we shall overcome!” is still clearly visible in Cuba.
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