Hello my name is Dailena María Rodríguez Clavelo. I am Cuban. I am 25 years old, and I work in tourism in Cuba. Our planet is currently experiencing a very difficult period. Many have lost their jobs, others have lost their vacation and some have lost members of the family. But in many places there is still hope and desire to end this storm.
My goal with this work is for the world to know the point of view of Cubans facing this situation. For this I have prepared a series of interviews with cubans with a very different background. Different age, gender, work and hometown.
At the end of the article you will draw your own conclusiones, and I hope you know a little more about how people feel in a country totally different from yours.
Taimi Armenteros Hernández
Head of nurses in the hospital of the city of Santi Spiritus. 46 years old.
Do you know what the new coronavirus is?
It is a severe acute respiratory syndrome of viral cause.
What do you think should be the most important measures to face the disease?
The most important measures are social isolation and constant hand washing.
Do you think the government took the precautionary measures in time?
I think so. Although i wish we had less cases.
Do you think they should implement stricter measures?
The strictest measures will come in time. I trust the government.
What is your main fear in this situation?
I am most afraid of bringing the disease to my home.
What do you think will happen to the country if tourism is not longer allowed?
Obviously the economy will drop and it will be very depressed.
Are you concerned about the food-situation in the stores?
I don’t know what will happen with this issue, but in Cuba that was a problem before the pandemic.
Are the cubans ready to face this situation?
Cuba and the Cuban health system is ready for whatever.
Do you know what harm this disease does to pets?
About our pets and the danger they run we don’t know much. At least in the news they haven’t said anything.
How do you imagine Cuba in 6 months?
In general we will be recovering.
Florana Padilla González
Studying music and psychology. Currently working as a singer in Havanna. 34 years old.
Do you know what the new coronavirus is?
Coronavirus is a respiratory disease declared as a pandemic.
What do you think should be the most important measures to face the disease?
All hygienic measures such as washing hands, washing the clothes we use when we go out, keep a distance of 3 meters from each other and the most important is to stay at home.
Do you think the government took the precautionary measures in time?
I think the government should have closed the borders before they did.
Do you think they should implement stricter measures?
Stricter measures should be taken at this point, for example people should not leave their homes, and there are still long lines with older people to buy chicken and soap.
What is your main fear in this situation?
My main fear is that it will happen as in Spain. We run out of resources in the hospitales.
What do you think will happen to the country if tourism is not longer allowed?
I imagine that the situation will get more difficult every day. I like many others, have already lost our jobs.
Are you concerned about the food-situation in the stores?
I am very concerned because before the pandemic we had very little. Now we will have less.
Are the cubans ready to face this situation?
Cubans have suffered from the 90s onwards hunger, shortage, lack of electricity, hurricanes. This virus is nothing to us.
Do you know what harm this disease does to pets?
I hope that pets do not transmit it because in my house we have dogs and we keep them as a family.
How do you imagine Cuba in 6 months?
I can’t imagine much but I hope we are in a better shape.
María Karla Basilio.
No university studies. Currently taking care of her son at home. 28 years old.
Do you know what the new coronavirus is?
It is a pandemi that just arrived in all of the world.
What do you think should be the most important measures to face the disease?
If it’s for me. I won’t leave the house until this is over.
Do you think the government took the precautionary measures in time?
It took to long time to close the schools. And still they have not yet demanded quarantine with almost 80 infested cases.
Do you think they should implement stricter measures?
Yes. They have to be stricter.
What is your main fear in this situation?
My main fear is that the Cuban government has hidden information about the real cases. And when we realize it, we are like Spain or Italy. Deciding who lives or dies.
What do you think will happen to the country if tourism is not longer allowed?
This is going from bad to worse but our government does not care. It has never cared.
Are you concerned about the food-situation in the stores?
That topic has nothing to do with the virus. Cuba has spent years working to be able to eat decently, you just have to see the long lines to buy chicken and oil.
Are the cubans ready to face this situation?
If it depends on the government, very few will get out of this.
Do you know what harm this disease does to pets?
Not much has been said about this in Cuba.
How do you imagine Cuba in 6 months?
We have been blind-deaf for 61 years. 6 months will not change anything.
Lenier Torres.
Artistic director and choreographer of a dance Company. 43 years old.
Do you know what the new coronavirus is?
I think it is the pandemic of this century and I also believe that nobody in the world was prepared to receive it.
What do you think should be the most important measures to face the disease?
The most important thing is to stay at home
Do you think the government took the precautionary measures in time?
No. Thee government took too long to close flights, mainly for tourists from countries with incidence.
Do you think they should implement stricter measures?
I think the government will implement more measures when the time comes
What is your main fear in this situation?
I never thought I would be afraid and today I am afraid even to go outside
What do you think will happen to the country if tourism is not longer allowed?
Cubans have risen from worse things. Every time we fall we rise.
Are you concerned about the food-situation in the stores?
I bought enough food for a month, no matter what has to happen.
Are the cubans ready to face this situation?
Cubans eat 5 pesos pizza, drink water with parasites, fry pork with the same oil 10 times. Do you think this virus will kill us..
Do you know what harm this disease does to pets?
I don’t know much but I hope that people still take care of their pets and don’t let them leave the houses.
How do you imagine Cuba in 6 months?
Everything will come back to normal. That we will return to work and our life will be the same.
José Rodríguez Marrero
Retired militar. Currently has a barber shop in Trinidad. 55 years old.
Do you know what the new coronavirus is?
As we see on the News, it is a pandemic and it is killing many people.
Do you know what the most important measures to face the disease is?
I think the most important thing is to have a perception of risk and timely isolation.
Do you think the government took the precautionary measures in time?
Our government has a plan of measures for each stage, we will trust this plan.
Do you think they should implement stricter measures?
The government will do what it has to do.
What is your main fear in this situation?
My main fear is my family. I really don’t want this virus to enter my house
What do you think will happen to the country if tourism is not longer allowed?
In my city Trinidad a soul is not seen in the street. It seems like the city is extinguished. Many People are left without work.
Are you concerned about the food-situation in the stores?
I think we had this problem before, but something tells me that without tourism in Cuba there will be more food for Cubans.
Are the cubans ready to face this situation?
We Cubans know how to get out of all kinds of situation. When we have cars like the Ladas running for more than 50 years everything is possible.
Do you know what harm this disease does to pets?
How do you imagine Cuba in 6 months?
The most important thing happens. I will be a grandfather and no matter the situation in the country my house will be happy.
Coming to the end of this work I would like to clarify that at the time of the interviews we only had 80 cases of corona. The only measures that the government had taken until then were the closure of the borders and the schools (here things change every day).
I hope my questions have answered some of yours questions about corona in Cuba. I also hope the answers have been enough to understand our system at this time.
Now I owe you a new article in 6 months when hopefully all this is over, and by that date give you good news.
As I asked you at first. Now you can draw your own conclusions…
All the best, Dailena <3
Thank you Dailena, for a very interesting article. Cuba is different and complicated, and I like your critical but open questions very much. I think of you every day and really looking forward till the day I can see you all again. Take care and have as good days as possible