AUGUST 30, 2006
65 PEOPLE DEAD FROM DENGUE
Havana – Fidel Castro’s government has begun to
massively fumigate Havana’s principal neighborhoods, trying to put an
end to the hemorrhagic dengue epidemic which has left more than 25
people dead and some ten thousand in serious condition in the capital
alone, according to the independent press in the island. Beginning
August 17th, sanitary authorities developed an explanatory
plan by means of loudspeaker trucks and public appeals through radio,
for the population to follow strict hygienic rules, in order to avoid
the virus dissemination. In more than six hospitals in Havana, there are
not enough medical resources to assist those infected, as explained by
the independent journalist Carlos Ríos, who lives in Santos Suárez
neighborhood. Another province in state of emergency is Santiago de
Cuba, where the death of some 40 persons infected with the virus has
been duly confirmed. Since the month of July, the epidemic has been
expanding, something that the government has tried to publicly hide,
specially amidst the power crisis growing in the island since dictator
Fidel Castro became seriously ill. Few days before beginning the Non
Aligned Countries Summit, the Cuban population is submerged in a deadly
epidemic danger which the government is not able to control. Other
provinces affected are Pinar del Río, Matanzas, Camagüey, Holguín,
Gunatánamo and Granma.
PREPARATION FOR THE SUMMIT
Havana – Amidst the expectations about the possible
apparition of dictator Fidel Castro in the Non Aligned Countries Summit
–to take place on next September 11th- the Cuban authorities have
developed an ample equipment modernization plan for the tenths of
Protocol Houses, located in El Laguito neighborhood, near the Convention
Center, where the event will take place. According to provincial party
sources, since the month of June, construction brigades are embellishing
the mansions where the mandataries coming to the meeting where Fidel
Castro was expected to make his appearance. The cost of these repairs
and equipment, according to diplomatic sources, is over $50 million
dollars. This fact contrasts with Carlos Lage’s announcement that the
unfulfilment of the construction plan for new housing, this year, is
¨due to the lack of construction materials¨.
POLITICAL PRISONER BEATEN
Camagüey – The political prisoner of conscience, José
Luis Pérez Antúnez, was brutally beaten by penal guards inside the ¨Kilo
8¨ prison, in this city, after the opponent –who has been in jail for 13
years- made an urgent appeal to the Cuban people not to cooperate with
the so called ¨secession government¨ headed by General Raúl Castro.
Antúnez made a public statement by means of a recording through Radio
Martí and other Miami stations. Antúnez’ family is not aware of the
political prisoner actual situation, which according to his sentence,
should be released in seven months.
CUSTOM AGENTS ARRESTED
Havana - The regime’s customs authorities have arrested
18 workers who, according to the District Attorney, have illegally
confiscated dollars and luggage from hundreds of passengers visiting the
island, mainly Cubans living in Miami. Luis González Barroso, Customs
Office’s manager, recently informed Granma newspaper that ¨it is
unacceptable for workers in this sector to rob travelers coming in as
tourists¨. According to Armando Soler, a customs officer with more than
20 years of service in the José Martí Airport in Havana, it is
practically impossible to control such mishandlings. ¨The very personnel
investigating corruption are related to this misdemeanor. They receive
dollars or confiscated equipment from the corrupt agents¨, indicated
Soler. The Cuban-American people visiting the island complain about the
robberies and fines by the custom authorities.
ANTIBIOTICS DISAPPEAR
Havana – The lack of antibiotics in the Cuban hospitals
have limited the assistance to seriously ill people in the island,
specially those patients in need of operations. Only urgent surgical
procedurers have assured the necessary antibiotics, according to
captain-physician Julio Ordaz, surgeon from the Navy Hospital, located
on the east side of Havana. ¨We have priorities, we only perform
emergency operations…we don’t have much medicines and have to be
realists¨, commented the surgeon. The lack of antibiotics in Cuban
pharmacies is another issue limiting physicians when they are treating a
patient. ¨We have to rely on the green medicine, as an alternative to
fight infections¨, admitted Rolando Vázquez, a family doctor in Havana
Center neighborhood.
SHORTAGE OF DRINKING WATER
Havana – The drinking water shortage is a fact
contrasting with Castro’s government announcement that the water dams in
the island are full to more than 70 per cent of their capacity. At the
capital, heavily populated areas, such as Havana Center, Havana East,
Old Havana, with more than a million and a half inhabitants, receive
drinking water only once a week, something very disgusting to the
population and which is actually endangering public health. The local
government is using a fleet of a hundred reservoir trucks to transport
water to the neighborhoods, causing frequent fights among the neighbors
at the time of receiving the precious liquid.
Arriba (up)