Ulises Pérez Cuevas, a Cuban retired from State Security, denounced the precariousness in which he lives despite having dedicated his best years to defending the so-called revolutionary process.
In a video shared by the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) on its Twitter account, the old man said that at the age of 14 he joined the clandestinity, and that in 1959 he was sent to Havana, where he became an agent of the Security.
"They then sent me to carry out that mission in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, a year in each country. And I am not well cared for. I am dealing with the Combatants Association to see why they are paying me so little," he said.
"But II'm starving, because 1,500 pesos is not enough to eat, everything is very expensive"he stressed.
Poorly dressed, in flip flops, disheveled and unshaven, the old man stated that this year the only thing that has arrived at the warehouse is rice and sugar, and at the butcher shop, nothing.
"This is very bad," he stressed, sitting on a doorstep while eating a piece of bread.
Ulises said that he goes to eat at a government store, where they sell him rice and peas for the day, as well as 10 pesos of additional broth, which rather than broth is a "little bit of water that looks brothy."
There are thousands of Cubans who participated in wars and other military missions in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and today they live poorly, abandoned by the government, without a pension that allows them to live with dignity and many times not even without a place to live.
This week, a former combatant from Matanzas did not hide the frustration he feels in the face of a reality very different from the one for which he fought.
"I fought to have everything in life, so that everyone could have it. Everyone had to drink milk, all the little children...", he declared to the OCDH.
The old man criticized that while the town does not have milk, there is in Varadero and other tourist places.
"I gave my life for this, I fought for this and I never thought I would reach this situation", lament.
In December, a veteran of the Angolan war, former member of the Police and founder of the Special Brigades, denounced that at 57 years old he has nowhere to live.
Yurbio González Romero, from Camagüey, had the misfortune of losing a leg in a traffic accident and his work abilities decreased. Because of his disability, he receives a checkbook of 800 Cuban pesos, which is not enough for him "not even for a croquette."
"I sleep on the street. Like what appears", he stated, before ruling: "All that number of Cubans who are emigrating is because the government is of no use."
In October, the OCDH showed two elderly people who participated in the war in Angola and are living poorly on the streets of Cuba, totally neglected and helpless by the regime.
Both are dedicated tocollect cans in the trash and on the streets to sell them and be able to eat something.
One of them, 68 years old, reported that he was homeless and did not receive care from social services.
The other, a resident of the Minas municipality, Camagüey, said that he went to Angola in 1989 "practically forced, because if he didn't go it was a problem."
"When I turned around they didn't give me anything, not even a combatant's pension. And I'm sick, look how my feet are," he said, showing his swollen legs. "I survive by selling cans and eating what I can."
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