The revolution of the humble?

Yoelsis and her three children

Artemisa, August 19. Authorities in this municipality have already tried to evict Yoelsis Olazábal and her three children, including Asiel Tamayo Olazábal, her six year-old son who suffers from ten pathologies and has undergone three operations. On June 14,n they tried to take her out of house #3917, calle 48 a esquina 41, according to the Defensoría del Pueblo (People’s Defense). During the operation, they broke the door of her refrigerator.

Asiel Tamayo Olazábal and a summary of his case history

She was later summoned by the Consejo de la Administración Municipal (Municipal Management Council) to allegedly giver an answer. Once she arrived, nine policemen surrounded her and arrested from 8 until 4 in the afternoon. Her children were alone all day, and had nothing to eat.

Asiel with his sister

Yoelsis, of the Granma province, came in 2012 to this area, for her son to receive medical attention. For four years she has requested a house, and the Dirección de Planificación Física (Physical Planning Authority) and the government promised to give her a parcel and a subsidy to build, but it has all been a lie. After some time living less than a meter away from a chemical products warehouse on the outskirts of the Artemisa municipality, Yoelsis had no choice but to leave the place, since her son’s health was deteriorating, and she decided to occupy a Ministerio de Salud Pública (Public Health Ministry) house that had been closed seven years before.

Medicines and supplements she has to buy in currency

Yoelsis was threatened by Rafael, Vivienda Municipal (Municipal Housing) Director, who was President of the Artemisa Asamblea del Poder Popular (Popular Power Assembly), now President of the Consejo de la Administración Municipal, and by Efrén Acosta, false owner of the house.

Text of the false claim

In Maribel’s case, she even forged a claim in an effort to evict her with her three children, and warned her that, as of July 17, anything could happen to her.

Opposition leader Gerardo Páez takes note

Asiel is traumatized, which the Defensoría del Pueblo (People’s Defense) could prove upon arrival at the place and observing his reaction as he though we were going to evict them, as he took us for officials.

Yoelsis cannot return to Granma province, since she needs to be near the capital in order to easily go to the William Soler Hospital when she so needs. Yoelsis, these three children’s mother, has no intention to remain in this installation, but will not leave until the subsidy and the parcel have been decided on and she has been able to build her house with minimum conditions.

By Mileisis Vigoa, CID Delegate in Artemisa, and Lázaro Pérez, of the Artemisa Defensoría del Pueblo (People’s Defense).