Santa’s red costume reigns in the private shops, but the regime’s olive green reigns in places under state management
14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 7 December 2024 – The Christmas decorations have begun timidly to appear in Havana. The private sector, with its cafeterias, its bars and its shops, is at the forefront of the decorations, with lights and garlands that set officialdom’s teeth on edge. This December, however, there haven’t yet been any published diatribes from officials or party ideologues criticising all the little Christmas trees and Santas’ sleighs. Perhaps it’s because at this particular year’s end the principal enemy of any festivities is the crisis, and especially the power cuts, that leave the nativity scenes in semi-darkness.
Inside an independent outlet in the National Bus Terminal in Rancho Boyeros Avenue on Thursday night, the figure of an elf with beard and pointed hat stood out against the poor lighting in the shop. Having a certain visual mixture of garden gnome and Santa Claus, the inflatable doll reigned over the dimly lit display counters with their packets of sweet biscuits (cookies) and crisps (chips), all of them imported.
“Better not to even look at the prices, otherwise you’ll be shocked”, advised a young girl who’d arrived at the station carrying only a small backpack. “I’m going to need more than a wizard in a hood to see if I can manage to get on a bus”, she said. In front of her, on a counter full of goodies, piles of polystyrene snow surrounded a number of decorations in the form of Christmas presents.
Two men in the armed forces uniform of the Prevention Troops patrolled with their dogs
A string of tiny blinking lights attempted to bring some kind of festive atmosphere to the scene, but most people just hurried by and didn’t even glance at the Christmas display. Close by the business, two men in the armed forces uniform of the Prevention Troops, known as the Red Berets, patrolled the terminal with their dogs.
Santa’s red in the private shops, and the regime’s olive green in the places under state management. A reindeer transporting presents on one side, and on the other side a German shepherd dog seeking out drugs, cheese, meat or seafood in passengers’ luggage, and, all about them, the semi-darkness of a station which had as little illumination as the buses that departed from it had.
Translated by Ricardo Recluso
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