The Cuban regime does not stop its investments in the tourism sector, and as proof of this, it has decided to repair a stretch of road in poor condition that leads to the Marea del Portillo tourist area in Eastern Cuba.
In the midst of the critical situation faced by the road infrastructure of the Island, with impassable roads or those riddled with potholes, the Cuban regime allocates the scarce foreign currency it claims to have to repair roads that are barely used by any vehicles other than tourist buses and rental cars.
With public transportation at historical lows, the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel is prioritizing the conditioning of kilometers of roads that connect to the hotels controlled by the opaque military conglomerate Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA).
The lack of national buses, train derailments, the halt of public transport due to a lack of fuel, and other nightmares that Cubans face daily in their movements are now compounded by the disdain of the rulers who prioritize investments in sectors controlled by the regime's elite over those that are urgently needed to ensure the well-being of the population.
"Forces from various brigades of the Construction and Assembly Company (COINGEX) in the Granma province are working on the recovery of 10 km of the Granma road, which provides access to the Marea del Portillo tourist area, settlements along the southern Granma coast, and the neighboring province of Santiago de Cuba. The first 200 meters of the road are being asphalted, while earth-moving work continues," recently stated the official media La Demajagua on its social networks.
Nestled in a unique setting, marked by the majestic combination of the Sierra Maestra mountains and the waters of the Caribbean Sea, the tourist destination Marea del Portillo consists of the hotels Marea del Portillo, Farallón del Caribe, and Villa Punta de Piedra, totaling 285 rooms.
In December 2023, the Granma tourist hub resumed its services after more than three years of inactivity. Nancy Estrada Milanés, delegate of the Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR) in Granma, explained to the state media that, during the years of pause, an investment plan was implemented in these hotel infrastructures by the provincial real estate company, aimed at renovating and beautifying the hub.
These efforts, he specified, have allowed the tourist complex to reopen its doors with greater comfort and elegance. The conditioning of the road that is now being undertaken will be added to the extensive investment plan of the regime in the tourist area of Granma.
In mid-April, the poor road conditions contributed to a truck accident on the Loma del Yarey, between the provinces of Granma and Santiago de Cuba.
The driver of a truck, Yobanis Peña Soto, spent several hours trapped inside the truck's cabin after it overturned on a road in the municipality of Jiguaní. He was finally rescued by emergency responders from the fire department.
In mid-February, a truck fell off the Río Yara bridge on the Masó - Las Mercedes road in the Bartolomé Masó municipality, Granma province, leaving seven injured, three of them seriously.
In July 2022, Cuban social media users reported the deplorable condition of a road in Campechuela, Granma.
"This is how the 17 kilometers are that are traveled daily by thousands of residents in the municipality of Campechuela, Granma," reported user Atiany Remón, accompanying her text with photos of a difficult-to-access road with a large pothole.
The images showed a pothole that covered both lanes and had a tree trunk as a danger signal.
Other details that stood out in the photographs included a truck stopped and unable to move, mud everywhere, passengers crowded and exposed in vehicles unsuitable for transporting them, and people seemingly directing traffic.
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