Cuba's Housing Crisis Worsens

[FrodosPet]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/21/cuba-housing-crisis_n_5185411.html

by ANDREA RODRIGUEZ
Posted: 04/21/2014 10:16 am EDT

HAVANA (AP) — The residents of 308 Oquendo Street were jolted awake in the middle of the night by violent shaking and a noise that they likened to a freight train, or an exploding bomb.

Part of their building's seventh floor had collapsed into the interior patio, heavily damaging apartments on the floors below. No one died, but the 120 families living in the building were left homeless.

Despite reforms in recent years to address the island's housing problem, such building collapses remain common in Cuba, where decades of neglect and a dearth of new home construction have left untold thousands of islanders living in crowded structures at risk of suddenly falling down.

~ snip ~

Cuba, a country of about 11 million people, lacks around 500,000 housing units to adequately meet the needs of the island's citizens, according to the most recent government numbers from 2010. The housing deficit widens each year as more buildings fall further into disrepair, punished year-round by the tropical sun, sea and wind.

~ snip ~

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The pro-Castro crowd will brag about the number of doctors trained. But talk about how Cubans are living in destitution because their system not only does not encourage residential construction, but frequently impedes it? Crickets!

WHAT is Cuba doing to train carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and masons? WHAT is it doing to sustain and encourage the production and widespread distribution of the materials required just to stand still against the elements, never mind lifting more people out of squalor?

Maybe if Che was a carpenter instead of a doctor?

[Mika]

1. Maybe if Che had opened up some Home Depots.

Or maybe Che should have built a hurricane dome over Cuba, so no damages ever needed repair.

WHAT is Cuba doing to train carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and masons? WHAT is it doing to sustain and encourage the production and widespread distribution of the materials required just to stand still against the elements, never mind lifting more people out of squalor?

Did you find ANY answers to your questions? More importantly, (because I know the Associated Puke didn't), did you even look? When a building has a partial collapse in the US, do we blame it on Obama, or the entire US system that is under extraterritorial sanctions? Oh ... wait ...

[FrodosPet]

3. Thanks for asking. Yes, I am fascinated with Cuba and am trying to learn what I can

Since Cuba is primarily a command economy, with limited elements of private enterprise, then obviously the orders come from the top down. So, would you know what Cuba is doing to repair or replace the huge number of buildings damaged not only by hurricanes, but by the natural processes of erosion and wear?

For my part, I am going to do some research and over the next few months. I will be glad to share any positive and negative information if anyone else is interested in the topic.

[Mika]

9. I doubt the authenticity of your research.

Especially coming to the study with party line pre-conclusions.
Your commentary, such as ....

"The pro-Castro crowd will brag about the number of doctors trained."

... leads me to believe this.

[dipsydoodle]

2. Article fails to mention what those with at least half a brain do recognise.

Cuba suffers from a severe shortage of building materials due to the US embargo.

But then of course you knew that from having been there. You have been there I take it or do you just read comics ?

The restoration of the Malecon and other buildings in and around Havana are course fine examples of the absence of carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and masons you mentioned.

[Mika]

4. The haters interpret the success of the US sanctions as the failure of Cuba's gov't.

Fuggin hypocrites and liars.

[FrodosPet]

5. They can buy from the rest of the world, can't they?

I am NOT a supporter of the sanctions. You have a point that it would be easier and cheaper to be able to trade with the U.S. (something I am hoping we see soon).

Even at that, though, they should be in much better shape. I cannot imagine that the island is so devoid of natural resources and trade relationships that they cannot do a better job of providing safe housing.

BTW, thank you for the info about The Malecón. Researching it now. It looks like a good incubator for tourism and private enterprise. Hopefully, that starts a trend of restoration that lifts up the quality of life for Cubans.

[Mika]

8. No they can't.

The US sanctions are aimed at entities that do business in Cuba - preventing them from doing so.

Before you come over here spouting the party line and hurling accusations, maybe you should do some basic research into this subject.
Just a thought.

[Bacchus4.0]

10. yes, they can. Do you think China cares about an embargo? Also, what will Cuba use to buy

the materials they need? Lumber and other construction industries aren't going to accept mangoes as payment.

Cuba needs to sell products in order to improve their infrastructure. They do not have the money to purchase what they need because they don't sell anything. The products they do have like bananas, rum, tobacco and mangoes are readily available from other sources.

[Mika]

13. Tell me, what does Jamaica sell? What does the Bahamas sell?

Your doggerel is useless regarding this topic.

[Bacchus4.0]

14. Haiti doesn't have adequate materials either. There is no embargo

Don't blame the US for decades and decades of inept governance in Cuba and Haiti. I bet Jamaica doesn't have the best housing either in many areas. The Bahamas have a very small population so banking and tourism are sufficient to sustain the economy and have sufficient funds to make purchases of materials they need.

Thats not the case in Cuba, Haiti, or Jamaica.

[Vogon_Glory]

6. The Embargo Is Only Partially To Blame

Despite the protests of the die-hard sandalistas, the Embargo is only partially to blame. Other Caribbean/ Gulf economies have grown to the point to where middling- to large-sized businesses could tell OFAC where to head in if they really wanted to deal with Havana.

[Bacchus4.0]

11. European hoteliers build in Cuba, Venezuela provides them oil

Cuba can't pay other countries for products. They don't have the money. They give countries indentured servants (slaves) as payment for some of the things they need.

[Vogon_Glory]

12. Sistematic capital starvation takes its toll

What has happened in Cuba is the end result of decades of systematic capital starvation by the Cuban government. G*d knows how.many small businesses that built up a little capital were squashed while Fidel was in charge and their resources expropriated by his regime. Add to that state control of housing, lack of maintenance and hundreds of derrumbes are inevitable.

Back before the Bolshevik Revolution and ostensibly afterwards, Marxists were supposed to be social scientists as well as revolutionaries. The Marxist-Leninist state socialist economy has clearly proven inadequate to care for the needs of its citizenry. To say this is hardly an endorsement of either Miltonn Friedman's economic theories or Dubya's crony-capitalism. It is merely stating unpleasant and all-too-obvious facts.

[Vogon_Glory]

7. A Modest Suggestion And Its Response

Some years ago I made a couple of modest suggestions as to how Cuba could improve its housing stock and preserve its architectural heritage. I made those suggestions on a now-defunct message board connected with the Miami Herald. I suggested that Cuba and Habitat for Humanity get together and build housing projects in areas where stock was in short supply.


I also suggested that right-wing émigrés seriously consider funding architectural restorations on the island, just as anti-Communist exiles helped fund at least a few similar projects in eastern Europe back I'm the 1980's. After all, many of the émigrés did plan to return and I thought they might still possess some lingering civic responsibility.

My proposals were not well receieved. The emigres opposed restoration because it would only help Fidel what's-his-name. They vociferously opposed the Habitat proposal because (they said) it would only help old what's-his-name and for other reasons that read like the Southern US classes talking about people of color during Reconstruction.

I consider Castro-nomics to be the main reason for the sad state of Cuba's housing stocks, but there's enough well-deserved blame to be strewn in other directions.