14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 19 September 2023 — The dilapidated Transmetro bus parked on Carlos III Avenue in Havana, this Monday, seemed to be destined for what the sign on its windshield said: “Transportation of workers.” However, it was striking that a woman dressed in civilian clothes and with a folder in her hand was helping a dirty old man with a cane to climb up. The vehicle was not transporting workers but beggars. ##A dozen of them, all unclean, some handicapped, most of them black, were piled up in the back seats, as if they were prisoners.
Before reaching another stop, near San Rafael Boulevard, a man warned a needy person in a wheelchair and carrying an image of San Lázaro: “Hey, move, move, move! The bus is coming that is picking up [people].” The man was able to avoid the raid, unlike three other beggars, who were brought in by the police officer who was also traveling in the vehicle. “Come on, let’s go,” the officer repeated with reluctance.
Upon seeing the bus, half rusted and aged, a woman who witnessed the scene said: “At least they have improved transportation, I remember once when a community services truck picked them up.”
Later, in the Galiano area, the vehicle stopped again at a place where several beggars usually sell things. After boarding them, the police officer went to the Fe del Valle park, where he addressed another homeless man who refused to accompany him. Then, the agent snatched a bag that the man was carrying, who immediately ran after him, berating the police officer with loud insults. It was of little use to him, since the homeless man ended up, like the rest, in a seat of the vehicle, which continued to lose itself towards Monte Street.
The authorities usually pick up the needy who flood the capital from time to time to take them to the Social Protection Center located in El Cotorro, known as Las Guásimas, where, in the words of the regime, “people with wandering behavior” are cared for. There, they bathe them, shave them, cut their hair and give them some second-hand clothes. “They are only here for a few days,” a resident near the center tells this newspaper. After a few days, they are returned “clean” to the streets, populated with more misery every day.
Los mendigos se resisten a subir a la guagua que los recoge en las calles de la capital cubana https://t.co/Ks6CCWs44j
👉🏼Las autoridades suelen recoger cada cierto tiempo a los menesterosos para llevarlos al Centro de Protección Social situado en El Cotorro pic.twitter.com/crfA69Diud
— 14ymedio (@14ymedio) September 19, 2023
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