At this point in September, little has been said about the concrete activities for the anniversary of the city of Las Tunas; an event to be celebrated at the end of this month, which each year is assumed with more laconism than the previous one.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- The delay in the information points to the fact that organizational elements are still missing; and this leaves our idea of the splendor of the celebration of San Jerónimo even more somber.
If these conjectures are true, the event will be marked only by a central activity and the spaces of the cultural and historical institutions according to the dedication of the occasion, repeating a formula that has been happening since before COVID-19 put its rhythm to our lives.
It is sad to think that such a circumstance will be repeated, when the city needs prompt attention that does not materialize, and problems gather in its corners, accumulating debts that are increasingly difficult to pay off, among other reasons because, in these times of scarce budgets, what does not generate income becomes an element of secondary importance.
And it is a fact, that the sites to be repaired do not bring in any money, nor does the Vicente García park, which dawns every morning with a terrible smell, a direct consequence of the feces of the birds (something which, by the way, has for years been stronger than our capacity for resolution).
Nor does the "anemia" of the city's nightlife contribute much to the state coffers, except for the attempts to consolidate (almost always by young creators) and seem to be focal points of cultural resistance to an excessive calm that makes you feel as if the dead are being dragged through the streets after 10:00 at night.
And that's not to mention the closed bars and those that remain half-open with the help of rouge, the theatre of Las Tunas and its endless repairs, and even the young people who meet in friends' houses because "here the only options for going out are with private individuals to eat or drink, there's nothing else in this village."
The town's anniversary has failed to be a real excuse for change and conservation but, sadly, no other motivation seems to do so either. We continue to wander from one calendar to another and remember the event only when September comes around and forces us to make room for the onomastic in the maelstrom of shortages that has become our daily routine.
After that date, these buildings remain the same until the next calendar, with no light at the end of the tunnel to provide sufficient street lighting, custodians to keep attentive watch in the early hours of the morning, and to finish giving names and surnames to responsibilities that slip away and properties that are lost (in this particular case, we could take the Historian's Office, for example).
It is too optimistic to suppose that some of these dilemmas will have a real solution before the city's birthday arrives; however, bringing together, listening, convening, and working out the path of doing things together, for the good of this land of cacti, can indeed take that date as a starting point.
Of course, this strategy needs a budget and quite a lot of it. Do we know what the one percent of the territorial contribution is spent on, down to the last peso? Why not call on the not-so-incipient private sector of Las Tunas? Perhaps artists, self-employed people, managers, and community projects, as in great brainstorming can contribute endogenous solutions, to the weak spaces where we ran as children, and help the rebirth.
The truth is that September is advancing and few things seem to remind us that this cradle of noble people is celebrating its anniversary. Newspaper 26, which resists oblivion and continues to search for news and details, hopes that this could be, for the better, the year of beginnings.
