In the Absence of Buses and Fuel, Horse-Drawn Carriages Provide Transportation in Cienfuegos, Cuba

Much cheaper than tricycles and scooters, cart drivers do not enjoy the sympathy of the authorities

When the law leans on them, carriage drivers find a way to survive. / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 19 January 2025 – “State-run busses are no competition for us, because they are virtually non-existent,” gibes a driver waiting to load his horse-drawn carriage precisely where La Calzada de Dolores in Cienfuegos begins. Although the area designated by the government for pick-up, far from the downtown, has become a dumpsite of animal urine and feces, people are not dissuaded from climbing on board the rickety carriages to go anywhere in the city.

“We would welcome a better location. People in El Prado, for example, who’re going to Tulipán need to walk at least ten blocks to get here through El Parque Villuendas,” explains Jorge, who’s been driving his carriage for eighteen years.

These drivers report that, far from providing the opportunities they seek, the local authorities have been “on the verge of wiping out the carriages entirely.” Jorge is grateful that each time those measures have been about to take effect, the fuel crisis and the scarcity of buses have tipped the balance in favor of the carriage drivers. Nonetheless, the government’s stance remains hostile.

“The only thing left for Party leaders to do is blame us for causing an epidemic. Together with Community Services and the Ministry of Labor, they have changed our routes, raised our taxes, controlled our prices—all with the goal of making us gradually disappear,” he stated.

When the law leans on them, says the man, the horse-carriage drivers find a way to survive. What’s most common, he affirms as he turns the queue over to a colleague who had just arrived at La Calzada, is renting the vehicle. “Whenever we can, we have to rent out the carriage; it’s the only way we can afford to pay the tax authorities, maintain the carriage, and take care of the horse,” he affirms. But since so many are doing the same thing, it’s not easy to get more than three or four rentals per week.

Jorge also bemoans the fact that the horse-carriage routes are not as flexible as those of the three-wheelers and motorcycles.

Jorge also bemoans the fact that the horse-carriage routes are not as flexible as those of the three-wheelers and motorcycles, which also offer trips downtown. But the driver knows that compared to motorized vehicles, his trade has an advantage: the prices. “Not everyone can rent a scooter to La Juanita or Junco Sur, because they can easily be charged 1,000 pesos for the trip,” he estimates.

Osmani, the young driver to whom Jorge gave the last one, almost completely agrees with the man who has become a kind of mentor in the trade to him. “Lots of people complain that our routes are limited, but we know we aren’t the ones to blame.”

It’s been seven months since the young man began the process of finally putting his carriage in circulation. “Instead of making things easier, they put up bureaucratic roadblocks that would discourage anyone. And after overcoming the initial hurdles, then the daily struggle begins with the inspectors who are ready to issue fines even for the animal’s excrement,” he complained.

At the pick-up spot, time is money. That’s why the drivers try to fill the carriages quickly, and when they can’t, the clients become impatient. “When they say they’re going to the stop at the Provincial Hospital or the bus terminal, they really stop two or three blocks before. It’s not the drivers’ fault they can’t go all the way there, but we are paying for a trip that is never completed,” bemoans Idania from the seat of one of the carriages waiting to be filled. “When I get off, I still have to take another means of transportation to get to my house in the Reina neighborhood.”

At the pick-up spot, time is money. That’s why the drivers try to fill the carriages quickly. 14ymedio

With 20 pesos for the trip in hand, Idania attempts a brief analysis of the problem with transportation in the city. Her conclusions aren’t good: There are no buses; alternative forms of transportation are expensive; and the cheapest, like the horse-drawn carriages, don’t cover all the routes they could.

The woman also dislikes the idea that hundreds of Cienfuegos’s residents rely on animal-drawn transport daily. “Obviously, I am in favor of protecting animals, but in our country, you can’t dispense with this form of transportation.” With the carriage now full and ready to leave, Idania winds up the conversation with a truism with which the rest of the passengers concur: “If it weren’t for the horses, we’d have to cover the entire city on foot.”

Translated by Cristina Saavedra

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