Lucas Garve, CPI
HAVANA, June - Housing constitutes one of the biggest problems for Cubans
today. In the island's largest cities the problem has become complex and
explosive. Toward the end of the 60's and the beginning of the 70's, the
government granted residents title to their houses.
As a result, Cubans acquired property in their homes by decree. Years later,
the government created a Housing Authority. Thus the government achieved on the
one hand, popular support, and on the other, simply left the new owners with
many construction problems at a time when there were no construction materials.
In the 80's, the government enacted a law that liberalized many aspects of
housing, from rents to sales to the establishment of construction cooperatives
meant to encourage future owners to build their own housing. However, only some
features of the law were ever implemented. The more revolutionary measures never
were. In spite of it, there was some relief of individual needs, mostly through
informal solutions.
A new law in the mid 90's complicated the housing situation even more, since
its principal objective was to block the internal migration of people from the
provinces to the capital. As a consequence, a new system of inspections, permits
and documentation exacerbated the bureaucratic procedures for Cubans who wanted
to move from one house to another, whether they were owners or not.
Alejandro, for example, only wanted to leave the country. He has always
lived in the house that belongs to his family. But his parents left first. His
father died in the United States some years ago.
The problem today is that Alejandro has to pay the government for the house
that belongs to his parents. He even has to pay for the dead man.
Rosita had a different experience. As a result of her mother's decision not
to draw up a will, she had to pay for the house in which she has lived since she
was a child. Her parents were the owners, according to the law. She wasn't.
The State has created an illusion that people own something, but at any
moment one can be thrown into a situation of total defenselessness.
The mechanism works with unequalled efficiency, in a country where
accumulated inefficiency drives people to despair.
Versión
original en español
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