Welcome to Havana, Cuba A country where its people are
constantly on the move, trying to get out forward facing the certain
tests that life puts us to each which and making sometimes tough decisions
but without a doubt we have to take all of us who were born Cubans, those who
decided to leave and those of us who are still here In our daily struggle, a word that has
many meanings for us here, where everything important for the country is
in the hands of the state sector we face to rationalization that is nothing more than
scarcity, an evil that corrodes our society. What decision should those young people
who have a future ahead of them make? Sit down to wait or use the first chance
they get to get to a better place? We are in a limbo where
we are forced to use too much of our time trying to achieve things that
could be achieved anywhere else with just a few minutes. Economic measures
that do not favor either the locals or the from there. What we used to achieve
with our national currencies today we have to try to achieve it with
foreign currencies, currencies that we do not charge. Many who do not know Cuba wonder
why so many people are wasting their time in the Street? Among the answers is the problem of
wages. Our youth don't want to be wasting time solving problems that should already
be solved, a youth that is prepared according to the times we are
living and with the willingness to get ahead wherever, a youth that many times risks
even their own life to live a little better. In most cases the best option
is to work in the private sector, it is very true that you work more but you also earn more and the
real world works like that. A private sector that produces of deficiencies has to bite the bullet
and on many occasions straighten those same nails and reuse them, nails that in their countries are
sold by weight here are sold by units, here there is not so you have to get them on the
black market and the machinery and tools in dollars. We have seen that what is most abundant in
stores in national currency is water and drink, We have seen entrepreneurs who carry out such
an important activity to save you time to people, who cannot
lower their prices due to the lack from a wholesale market are fined
because they cannot be in a corner. A private sector that is affected by all
these conditions and the same measures as the regulate also affects the end customers that
are us. The biggest concern a Cuban is what it will bring to the table today and also
what it will bring to the table tomorrow. So we have gone getting used to things that are not normal
anywhere but for us they are. Retirees who have pensions between 1,500 and 1800 pesos decide to earn a living the way they can and while some must go to the bank to deposit
the dollars that their family sends them, dollars that They will no longer be able to continue using in Cuba
there are others who have bigger problems. The stores in MLC (foreign currencies) do not have a
stable assortment either, but they do have priority before the stores in national currency
that are out of stock, in both cases people start
queuing at 5:00 AM many times without knowing if they will release
the product you are looking for. Those who have
family and friends abroad can feel lucky. they send money to Cuba. Life keeps
moving on. But how does someone who does not have friends or family? How do those people who
worked all their lives and saved in pesos do Cubans and after the economic order,
those savings depreciated 3 to 5 times? How do families do when their
rice runs out and they can't pay for it at 60 pesos per pound? Here in Havana the rice competes
in price with the dollar and threatens to win. It's frustrating to get up early and stand in line
for 5 hours and have what you buy runs out. Chicken, sausages, picadillo (leftover ground meat) mostly that is what is sold in national currency. The variety comes for the stores in MLC.
These foreign currency stores were created more than a year ago in theory to
supply stores in national currency, great thing we are still waiting for.
Imported and production products are sold here national even trinkets for children are
already sold in foreign currencies. Beer national costs 1.40 USD. Many people have
stopped drinking beer, an adult can do it, but how do you explain to a child
that there is no money to buy their candy? Household appliances are not immune to dollarization either. Transportation is now
more limited, the traffic is more controlled number of passengers inside
buses. It also shows a lower frequency and both together means
more trouble moving. If ambulances have
fuel problems, public transport should too have and is that in energy matters our
country is very tied to what happens in Venezuela. A while ago I was telling you that hotels are
selling their food at the price equivalent to what that they sold it normally but now in
national currency . Here we have chicken marinated at 350 pesos, this is a practice adopted by many
tourist centers that have no clientele They sell their products to the people at the same
astronomical prices but in national currency. This queue is to buy picadillo (leftover ground meat). I have something recorded for you that I want you to see. To put you a little on
the price: these batteries are no longer They can be found in state stores, you have to
look for them on the street, and they cost five dollars. What you are seeing here is what
in our country is called jamonada the word may come from ham - nothing. These are two pounds 54 pesos. If you ask about the ham, the
ham costs 64 pesos per pound with the state, on the street it costs 100. But we will continue to see the products that
are found on the street and the quality. This is The peanuts and sesame seeds that I usually buy in
the Egido Market, from 10 pesos have risen to 30. But it does not end here, this peanut bar
costs 25 pesos, look how thin, how flexible and watch how it moves. Well we
Cubans have learned to laugh of all our problems. These
are the famous explosive croquettes, This is what we say to them because when they start to fry they
explode, even after they have been taken out Cauldrons also explode There have been many
accidents reported on social media. The The company that manufactures them says that we
do n't know how to fry croquettes. Some other Cuban has asked if planting the croquettes in the
backyard of his house could create a minefield. At 25 Cuban pesos the package with 10 ammunition. Well, what you are seeing here is the famous
cornmeal bread that is being made in Cuba they already know that we have a deficit
of wheat. - Don't laugh, little girl, you're serious! (laughs) and then, well, around here it looks a bit ... porous! here, because like that,
when it is ground, no, there is no ... (-It does not solve well) (laughs) Well, nothing, we continue. And so, for the good
of some and for the bad of others we have used to laughing at our problems
as if we were children, children who do not know the work that their parents go through so that when they
get home after playing court have a soap to bathe, have a plate
of food and that tomorrow they can eat something else different. Those that we wish would never leave
our side, that we try to educate them so that are better people than ourselves
and who sometimes make the difficult decision to leave, in the worst case to cross
a jungle (Selva del Darién) or be with people for whom physical attraction is not felt just because they
represent a better future perhaps elsewhere. It would be a pride that our children were
architects to help repair our city, but maybe they choose to be bricklayers because they
will earn more, or they were doctors or teachers, But they will always keep in mind that a policeman earns
much more than a doctor and much more than a teacher, or that the Indian builders they
bring to work in the hotels Cubans will earn 8 to 10 times more than them. What is Cuba? Definitely more than a political system, more
than the problems we face on a daily basis, more that the difficult decisions that we have
to make, more than rum, mulatto, fun, more than Varadero, more than the keys, more than the amazement of tourists to
see the beauty of Old Havana but also the ruined buildings.
Cuba is its people, its streets, the experiences that unite all
Cubans, it is this land that she saw the birth that belongs to all of us, to all of us
who are here and to those who long for her, of those who want to come and cannot, or are not
allowed to enter the country, and of those who do not want to do it to avoid seeing with their own
eyes what is left of what they left behind. And in this way, walking near the Havana seawall
with the sky totally cloudy, and that mixture of mixed feelings that all
Cubans have had at some time, we are ending this video not without first thanking
everyone who stayed until the end. I want to ask you to let me know in your
comments if anyone has a birthday this week next, after having seen this video or
if a relative has a birthday, your wife or husband, let me know in the comments.
Also let me know in the comments what you think of what they saw here. So far this video for today,
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