By Irina Pino
HAVANA TIMES – The beginning of 2025 hasn’t brought anything good; problems are starting to unravel that are beyond our control to resolve. Let me tell you about the latest hardship I’m facing. It’s regarding the liquefied gas I use to cook.
Exactly a week ago, we ran out of gas in our apartment building. A neighbor called the company to have them check a gas leak that had been there for some time. So, some employees came, and they cut off the gas supply. They also claimed that the regulator wasn’t working, and the pipe under the ground was worn out.
The thing is, before leaving, they said that the next day a maintenance crew would come to replace the pipe, and then another team would bring a new regulator. But none of that happened. Five days later, the crew came to install the regulator, and when they saw that the maintenance team hadn’t come to replace the pipe, they left.
My neighbor and I have been calling the company to report our issue, but they just lie, giving phone numbers where no one answers and saying that the maintenance workers don’t work on weekends.
Yesterday, the maintenance crew worked for almost an hour. The truth, according to them, is that they don’t have what’s needed to replace the damaged parts. They don’t have new pieces, so they’re resorting to makeshift fixes that solve nothing because everything falls apart again quickly.
A friend told me that they had the same issue at his house, and a worker sold him a gas regulator for 2,000 pesos, and that’s how he solved his problem.
The gas also isn’t coming as it should; it has too much water, which is causing damage to the pipes and regulators.
Thanks to a friend from the neighborhood who lent me an electric stove, I’m able to cook, because today no worker from the gas company has shown up.
The reality is that every day, public services deteriorate and harm the population. There’s no way to reverse the mistreatment of citizens. We have to arm ourselves with patience and look for alternatives to survive. Now, what I need is to buy electric pots to cook. The problem is that this requires hard currency because the state is unable to sell that kind of merchandise in Cuban pesos, not even on credit.
Here, the currency that will dominate in the near future will be the dollar and the euro. There’s already a card to buy gasoline in dollars, and stores in dollars are being set up all over the island. What’s next?
And I ask myself, who will pay for our lives and everything we’ve been through over more than sixty years of Revolution? We live in a country where only those with money can live comfortably. The life of an ordinary citizen is worth less than a grain of rice.
Read more from Irina Pino’s diary here.
