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Ulises Castro Reyes, a 75-year-old man residing in the impoverished neighborhood El Resplandor, lost his home once again following the passage of Hurricane Melissa, as reported by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada on his Facebook profile.
According to the publication, Ulises, a retired worker from Comunales and a resident of the area near the textile factory in Santiago de Cuba, is facing “a repeated tragedy”: the total collapse of his precarious wooden and cardboard house. Mayeta recalled that this is the second time the elderly man has lost his home completely. The first time was in 2012, when Hurricane Sandy devastated the neighborhood. “At that time, Ulises received as ‘state aid’ just six wooden beams, six black cardboard tiles, and a bag of cement—insufficient materials to rebuild a decent home,” the journalist wrote.
The reporter recounted that for years, the residents of El Resplandor “witnessed how in other areas of the city, apartments and buildings for those affected by various disasters were being constructed, while they remained excluded.” According to Mayeta, the hope of receiving a safe home “waned over time, amid lost documents, corruption in Housing, illegal license sales, and institutional negligence.”
Today, at 75 years old, Ulises is facing another total collapse that forces him "to survive among scraps of wood and cardboard, with no basic conditions and without any authority offering a real solution," wrote the Santiago journalist, who shared several images showing the environment in which the elderly man lives: an improvised bed outdoors, damaged utensils, and fragments of the collapsed structure.
According to Ulises's family, as quoted by Mayeta, "the State prioritizes the distribution of aid and donations in media-friendly or central areas, while neighborhoods like El Resplandor are left off the institutional map." They also ask, "How does help reach those who truly need it if there are no CDRs functioning, if the inspectors are corrupt, and if the donations end up being diverted or resold?"
The journalist described El Resplandor as a settlement “lacking basic infrastructure, legal construction, and state support,” where many vulnerable elderly people live “among broken promises, landslides, and neglect.” “While recovery plans are announced, optimistic figures are presented, and official tours are conducted through previously cleaned areas, men like Ulises continue to live without any protection,” Mayeta concluded.
The case of this elderly man adds to a long list of human stories that have come to light following Hurricane Melissa's passage through eastern Cuba. In Holguín, a mother cried out, “I just want food for my children” after losing her home, while in Songo a pregnant woman with three small children lives “in extreme conditions” amidst mud and makeshift roofs.
There were also reports of a child with cerebral palsy living in extreme poverty and a girl in Birán who asked for help saying, "I have no food and I can't take it anymore", stories that reflect the magnitude of the tragedy left by Hurricane Melissa in the eastern provinces.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz promised that “no one will be left helpless”, but the testimonies gathered from various provinces reveal a reality of ongoing neglect and precariousness.
The writer Nelson Simón has described that situation as “a Cuba in rags that lives alongside us even after 65 years”, while denouncing that each hurricane “exposes the structural poverty and inequality of the country.”
The story of Ulises Castro Reyes brings to light the quiet suffering of thousands of Cubans who age amid ruins, without a secure roof over their heads or answers from the State.
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