During the visit by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel to San Antonio del Sur, in the province of Guantánamo, a man in charge of 29 children at a special school reported that the government took them to that location and abandoned them, just before Hurricane Oscar made landfall on October 20.
The statement was made in the context of the severe flooding caused by the cyclone, which resulted in a preliminary toll of seven dead in that municipality of Guantanamo.
In response to Díaz-Canel, who stated on Wednesday upon arriving in the affected area that "no Cuban has been left to their fate" in this natural disaster.
"They left us there all alone with 29 children, I had to evacuate my five kids, we almost drowned," replied the visibly distressed man, while the official tried to justify the government's actions.
The affected individual stated that the authorities had promised to leave a rescue team in case the river overflowed, but they did not follow through.
"The government took us there (to the special school) and left us alone. They said they were going to leave a team in case the river overflowed and then they left us alone. I had to rescue these people with the help of another," he said.
Díaz-Canel responded to the criticism by assuring that the government's intention was to evacuate people at risk. "The thing is that you were brought here to evacuate you, but the phenomenon exceeded everything. We are going to investigate that," he commented, trying to reassure those present.
The situation in Guantánamo remains tense, and those affected by the hurricane have expressed their frustration over the lack of support and resources during the crisis. Many relatives are asking for help to locate people who are still missing, while the regime has confirmed the death of seven people due to the floods.
San Antonio del Sur and Imías are the municipalities most affected by the passage of Oscar, and Díaz-Canel arrived in the area three days after the disaster, stating that "All of Cuba is working for you. (...) Rest assured that you are not alone, nor abandoned," the leader told the Guantanamo population.
Hurricane Oscar arrived in the eastern region in the early days of a nationwide blackout. People were not well informed about the magnitude of the storm due to the lack of electricity that left most of them isolated.
Many families in the rural areas were not able to evacuate in time and have lost everything: their animals, their crops, their properties, and some have even lost their lives.
According to official figures, only 15,000 people were evacuated in Guantánamo: 9,000 in Imías and 6,000 in San Antonio del Sur.
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