Sick and with no shoes she works in the fields

Mercedes Pérez Cardoso

Santa Clara, November 1, 2017

Not all in Cuba can enjoy the measly salaries they earn after working for 30 days. Hundreds of Cubans are exposed to hunger and hardship, not only in big cities, there’s also countless cases of farmers who live in subhuman conditions.

Thousands die without having received medical assistance and many are unable to complain because of fear of the tyranny and many times because of the high illiteracy level which abounds in Cuban fields. And it’s not for lack of physicians but because they don’t have an income to allow them to seek medical attention.

Mercedes Pérez Cardoso suffers from hepatic cirrhosis and the only time she went to a doctor was when she was diagnosed. During a visit by Cuba Independiente y Democrática Party activists from Villa Clara to the place where this lady tries to survive, she told us she cannot undergo treatment because she has no money to even travel for a specialist to see her. We were able to see how this sick and barefoot woman works the fields with her old husband.

This is how this humble family cooks

CID members of the Democracia Campesina delegation in Villa Clara guided the lady on how to claim her rights before the government, and explained to her the work done in the province by the Defensores del Pueblo (people’s defenders), who guide citizens who are not cared for by the government.

The complaint will be addressed to the Departamento de Atención a la Población de Partido Comunista de Cuba (Population Service Department of the Communist Party of Cuba) in Santa Clara.