I would not want to die in this neglect

To: The Communist Party in Holguín

From: Mirian Marleni Escalona Figueredo

Gentlemen, my name is Mirian Marleni Escalona Figueredo, I am 49 years old, # C.I.68022025393, I live at calle 22 prolongación # 20, reparto Santa Rita, Velasco. I have been sick for years, I am e a chronic alcoholic, I am etalon in my house which is very humble, with a dirt floor and in a bad state.

When my mother was alive, they gave us social aid with 147 pesos national currency*, which is 5 CUC and 88 cents, but after she died they never gave me any more aid, although I complained to the social worker.

I would like you to understand that I am a very sick person not only of alcoholism but, because of that, I have other ailments. I need help, I would not want to die in this neglect which makes me feel bad, so defenseless. I understand that in many places with people who are destitute and abandoned because of events in their life, the government has a duty, and fulfills it, to help them, even if it is with reduced resources. I do not want to live with this anguish and this bitterness I am now feeling.

I hope you listen to my prayers and that Jesus Christ sheds light along my path.

By the Defensoría del Pueblo (People’s Defense, Sorania Cruz Rosales and Oscar Pupo. Photography by Manuel Martínez León.

*The equivalent to $5.88 dollars per month