The Cuban Carlos Rostgaard shared a personal anecdote with El Lago Podcast that starkly and ironically depicts the crisis that defined an entire generation during the Special Period.
“Sad story. Guantánamo, 1993. They have just decriminalized the dollar in Cuba. After days of effort, I managed to collect my first 10 cents,” he begins his testimony.
With cash in hand, he set out with "all innocence and a deep hunger" towards the first foreign currency store that opened in the city.
"Quiet, hidden from everyone to avoid sharing, I entered the store and walked around inside for about 10 minutes. It was the only place where I could feel air conditioning." Finally, he gathered the courage to approach the cashier. "I bought the first chocolate of my life," he remembers.
She had a huge hope. She walked to Martí Park, which was at the corner of the store, sat down, and opened the golden wrapping to bite into her candy. What came next was a dose of reality.
"It was a chicken broth, salty and saturated with garlic. It disgusted me, but I took it home half-eaten. I added hot water and managed to satisfy my hunger for 30 minutes."
Imagining the scene evokes a blend of laughter and sadness. It's a tragicomedy that encapsulates the precariousness of those years and reminds us of the current crisis, six decades of scarcity, confusion, poverty, and a collapsed economy.
The illusion of chocolate transformed into a broth cube unintentionally becomes a metaphor for life in Cuba, where things are often not what they seem.
Rostgaard concluded his account with a phrase that encapsulates the feelings of many Cubans both on the island and abroad: "Cuba is a trauma in the lives of Cubans. The dictatorship must fall."
Filed under: