Rosa, la Cubana

Not Guatemalan but she has visited

I met Rosa some ten years ago during my first trip to Cuba. She was managing a casa particular (private home that rents out rooms) for some relatives. Perhaps because of Rosa, I have been back to Cuba four more times and am considering a trip in May to deliver food, toiletries, other necessities and cash. That is, if there are no bombs falling. Americans are not supposed to travel to Cuba except with designated, licensed travel agencies who charge exorbitant fees to show customers only the Cuba the government wants them to see. However, the intrepid know that it is easy enough to book a flight, say from Guatemala or Mexico, and arrange a casa particular for some $25 a night. And a bicitaxi to get around. Cuba and the Cubans are happy to receive anyone and they know not to stamp an American passport.

Rosa was educated as a lawyer and worked for thirty years in administration of the Havana police department. She knows where all the cameras are. Divorced she has one daughter who has a university degree in Communications. And a three-year old granddaughter.

A few years back Rosa was able to visit Guatemala after a year-long process to secure a visa. Highlights were buying underwear and hair dye in the Antigua market. Along with visiting Lake Átitlan and Todos Santos in the Cuchamatan mountains.

Three years ago Diego and I spent New Year’s in Cuba. Things were already very difficult as the monthly food deliveries that everyone depended on had stopped during Covid. Rosa’s retirement pension was the same as every government employee’s salary the peso equivalent of $30 a month. Ten years ago the official exchange rate was 24 pesos to the dollar. At the end of 2022 we could exchange dollars on the street for almost 300 pesos for each one. I have no idea what the official rate was. Thus Rosa’s pesos were not buying many dollars or euros. And one needs those dollars or euros to buy imported goods such as most everything including toothpaste, shampoo, soap and chicken legs. Diego and I each carried an extra suitcase full of food and other necessities. One item was a shrink wrapped roast turkey left over from the Christmas rush. It turned out to be quite a novelty and some said it might have been the first ever turkey in Cuba.

Ten years ago WhatsApp disappeared from my phone while I was in Cuba. ????? I was only able to reinstall it during a transit in Panama. Today Rosa communicates regularly using WhatsApp. Yesterday she told me, “I hate to ask for help but it is getting critical.” She told me that she has a card on which she could receive either dollars or euros. I asked her how one added cash to the card. She had no idea. She had just obtained the card. I asked Chat GPT and was directed to a website that allowed me to set up an account, add a beneficiary and send cash to Rosa which she will hopefully receive by the end of this week. I found another website (www.supermarket23.com) that allows people outside of Cuba to order everything from toothpaste and chicken legs to solar panels and generators to be delivered to people in Cuba. As a test Rosa should receive about $100 worth of chicken, rice, powdered milk, eggs, detergent, oil and soap sometime tomorrow.

A week or so ago Rosa received her Spanish birth certificate. Both her father and her grandfather were Spanish citizens. With the birth certificate she is eligible for a Spanish passport which she hopes to have within a couple of months. Then her daughter will be able to apply as well for Spanish citizenship. The hope is to have more opportunities available for the three-year old grandchild in Spain.

As of this writing the power grid in Cuba has collapsed and there is no power on the island. Thanks to the viejo loco, the old crazy man, as Rosa refers to the US president, Cuba has not received any oil from Venezuela since January. Before the viejo loco Cuba got 60% of their oil from Venezuela. Rosa, her daughter and granddaughter are able to stay in the casa particular, that she is currently managing, in the center of Havana as there are no guests at the moment. This because there has been no water at their home which is outside of the city for the last eighteen days. In the city center they have gas, water and until today, electricity. So, hopefully, they can find a way to cook the chicken that is arriving tomorrow.

How is it that one viejo loco can go unchecked and create such chaos? Is this all about yet another tacky beach resort?