It is not easy to change the image of a neighborhood in the city of Las Tunas associated for decades with marginality. That is the burden carried by an area popularly known as "México"; but its inhabitants, while assuring that there the revolutionaries are the majority, look with hope at the social transformation movement that is underway.
After July 11 of this year, the "México" was the object of all kinds of false news propagated by the enemies of the country. Those who staged the disorders that occurred that day on one of its corners were not local residents; they came perhaps moved by that same negative notoriety they foist on it, comments Alcides Vicente Morales Batista, who was elected last year as the delegate of the 13th Constituency.
"From then to date we have been striving to go on with our daily lives," insists this sports activist by profession. He does not deny the problems they face, especially unemployment, alcoholism, and drug use. "But we have done a lot of actions: neighborhood debates, volunteer work, we decorate the blocks. When we talk and explain to the community, the neighbors participate. This has been the case these days," he says.
PROBLEMS ARE BEING FACED
In the last two months, the political and government authorities have been coordinating a collective effort to move this area forward. To do so, they first took note of the main complaints of its inhabitants, some of them, it is worth mentioning, decades old. Architectural barriers in the pharmacy, the danger of flooding in the houses near the ravine, the sewage system, the lighting system, and the constructive state of the warehouses are some of the priority items on the agenda.
The local administration of Labor and Social Security, Physical Planning, Refuse Collection Services, and other institutions or companies, which in one way or another could take part in this transformation, have been summoned. Always on the premise of not intervening but listening first so that, from this exchange with the local population, we can find solutions to common dilemmas.
"This team has been formed on the fly and has been joined by representatives of Water Resources, Aqueduct... We work together, we support each other. One brings the truck, another brings a dump truck, and so we all move forward together," describes engineer Pablo Paneque Almaguer, provincial director of the Maintenance and Construction Company, who has been seen more than once on 13 de Octubre Street. There, after several days of work, a new sidewalk and the integral container are already taking shape.
Paneque Almaguer affirms, "We want to solve the drainage in the gully and other existing issues such as the patching of some streets. Together with the Provincial Housing Directorate we have surveyed the most critical cases to evaluate what solutions would be required in each case". The director praises the support of the residents, without whose participation, he says, "it would not have been possible to do anything."
"Everything that is happening is very big," says Teresa Caballero Suárez, a hairdresser and president of one of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR, by its acronym in Spanish) in the area, as she hears about plans to repair the classroom annex of the Rubén Bravo school, about projects to turn the Plaza de Los Recuerdos into a socio-cultural center, or about the desire to rehabilitate the local stores.
Of course, each of these initiatives will require resources that will not suddenly become available. However, knowing that there is the will to do is significant, he says. "A lot of people who didn't see the attention, the concern, were discouraged, but now there is enthusiasm. I think this has changed a lot. If we unite we can do more."
OF THE HUMAN AND THE DIVINE
Every time that some urban development project or of any other type threatened to demolish the stage of the famous "cuchilla del México," or if someone dared not to include it among the areas of the popular festivities, they say that Domitila Guillén went there to stand up in the seat of the Government and from there she did not move until they listened to her.
As long as she lived, the old lady defended that space known as the Plaza de Los Recuerdos, where so many dancers wore out their soles and many well-known groups played until dawn. Of those memorable nights, all that remains are the nostalgia and the old stage that, despite the inclement weather and neglect, still stands as a living reminder of that time when culture gave breath to the community.
Today new airs begin to blow around the old square as if Domitila's impetus was spreading there. A project to revitalize it and turn it into a socio-cultural center is being woven by the hand of the cultural institutions, which have also summoned great creators and intellectuals who live there and the whole neighborhood, as indispensable voices that must be united in pursuit of this common work.
There are many dreams and all of them are exciting: afternoons dedicated to rumba and folklore, literary meetings, and Marti's gatherings. "There are many ideas and we artists will do our bit," says Nover Olano Escobar, president of the Advisory Council for the Development of Monumental and Environmental Sculpture (Codema, by its acronym in Spanish) in Las Tunas.
It is a community with dissimilar potentialities, many talented people live in these parts, great artists, and they should be at the center of the problem, says the president of the Provincial Center of Plastic Arts of the territory, Othoniel Morffis Valera, who channels there a workshop of transformation, in which painting or sculpture classes are taught, good live music is listened to and Cuban cinema, poetry or any other topic of interest is discussed; with no other pretension than to share and feed the soul.
It won't take a day or two for "Mexico" to get rid of those pejorative adjectives that accompany it, but what is being done there is definitely on its way to achieving it. There are many socio-economic problems and several projects are still in the making; but there are also many trained professionals, dedicated workers, and intelligent young people who are part of this environment and are willing to leave a beautiful mark on their community.
