Pedro Monreal: “Cyclones exacerbate pre-existing social disasters such as poverty.”

Cuban economist Pedro Monreal warned in a thread of posts on the social network X that tropical cyclones are not only natural phenomena but also indicative of the social inequalities that persist in countries like Cuba.

“Nature plays with loaded dice,” wrote Monreal, noting that what hurricanes leave in their wake is often the exacerbation of a prior social disaster: poverty.

The specialist recalled that there is nothing "natural" about the fact that the poor are the most affected by cyclones, nor that they take longer to recover, if they manage to do so at all.

Monreal explained that disaster risk management should be part of a state-driven development strategy, prioritizing the eradication of poverty, as "it is essentially a political process."

The economist also reflected on the concept of "building back better," pointing out that it is not only about materials or technical solutions, but about decisions regarding who controls the resources and defines the priorities of the recovery process.

"Rebuilding better involves definitions regarding the political relationships of those involved in the process. 'Who will make the decisions about the resources for rebuilding homes? Where, when, and how?' she questioned."

Monreal's reflections come at a time when Cuba is preparing to face a hurricane that will leave deep consequences. Melissa is approaching the island as a Category 5 and is expected to make landfall on Wednesday in some area of the eastern part of the country, where the populations most vulnerable in Cuba are likely to be found.

These communities have been enduring daily power outages of more than 12 hours for over five years, interruptions in the drinking water service, food shortages, and most homes are old and not reinforced because there are not enough resources to repair them properly.

Hurricane Melissa could leave thousands of Cubans homeless in a very short time, exacerbating their conditions of extreme poverty, without the government being able to resolve the crisis.

Last year, a cyclone passed through San Antonio del Sur, in Guantánamo, and the regime has still not reported the names of the missing persons. More than 13,000 homes were lost, and they have only managed to set up fewer than a dozen container houses, which are not even in a habitable condition yet.