Official journalist denounces delays in funeral transportation due to lack of fuel: “Dying is also a bureaucratic process.”

The official journalist Guillermo Carmona Rodríguez, from the newspaper Girón, recounted in a recent article the difficulties his family faced in burying his grandmother in Matanzas due to a lack of fuel and state bureaucracy, which almost made it impossible to conduct the burial on time.

After the elderly woman's passing, her family made all the arrangements to transfer her to the family vault in Manguito, a small village near Colón.

However, what should have been a routine process turned into a nightmare when the funeral home informed them that there was not enough fuel to transport the body.

“At the funeral home, after everything had been discussed, I asked if the car parked outside was the one that would take us, and they replied no, that it had little fuel and that I should wait for the next one. An hour later, the new transport arrived. However, once again they explained that there wasn't enough gasoline,” Carmona recounted in his chronicle.

According to the employees, although they did have fuel in stock, they needed government authorization to restock at a service station.

The problem is that only a specific government official could approve the dispatch of gasoline, but at that moment, they were not answering calls or had their phone turned off or out of coverage area.

The journalist lamented the lack of foresight from the authorities in a country where the energy crisis has been impacting daily life for years.

He criticized that such situations could be avoided if the authorities took effective measures, such as allowing service stations to operate without relying on a single official or designating specific gas stations for urgent services like funeral transports, ambulances, and critically ill patients.

Carmona also reported that they did not even allow his family to obtain fuel through their own means, as the state system does not permit it.

Desperation grew as time passed without resolution while her grandmother's body remained at the funeral home.

After hours of waiting, a service station finally managed to refuel a vehicle, and the transfer took place.

However, the delay left the family with a feeling of frustration and helplessness, as they only wanted to bid farewell to their loved one with dignity and without further complications.

The driver of the hearse confirmed to the journalist that this situation is more common than one might think, as the lack of fuel regularly impacts funeral services, causing delays and distress during such sensitive times.

"Even dying turns into a mess, a bureaucratic process, a tropical surrealism," reflected Carmona, who also warned that this issue not only affects funerals but can also recur with ambulances and other essential medical services.

His testimony highlights how the energy crisis and state inefficiency continue to impact even the most painful moments, reminding Cubans that, on the island, there are obstacles even to dying.

As incredible as it may seem, in Cuba, it is common for the energy crisis and fuel shortages to generate unfortunate situations like this, even affecting the most sensitive moments of life.

In January, a group of Cubans had to carry a coffin with their hands and walk to the cemetery due to the lack of a hearse in the municipality of Consolación del Sur, in Pinar del Río.

The unusual scene, which circulated through the streets of the municipality, was recorded on video and shared on social media, sparking a wave of outrage among citizens.

In December, the decline of funeral services in Cuba became evident in Alquízar, a municipality in the province of Artemisa, where the body of a resident remained in her home for five hours waiting for transportation to be taken to the funeral home.

Frequently Asked Questions about the Crisis in Funeral Services in Cuba