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FROM
CUBA
Homeless dies, remains in the street
HAVANA, Cuba - March 8 (Jaime Leygonier
/ www.cubanet.org) - A homeless man died
during the night Sunday at the crossroads
of Galiano and San Rafael Streets, and his
body stayed there, surrounded by the curious,
until it was picked up about four hours
after he was found.
The Vea cafeteria, in front of which the
man leaned the last time he leaned anywhere,
opened for business as usual.
A policeman pronounced the man dead after
taking his pulse. There was no thought of
calling for a doctor.
Someone covered the body with flattened
cardboard boxes. There are no sheets for
the dead in Cuba; sometimes there are no
sheets for the living.
The body was surrounded by a circle of
onlookers and about 10 policemen. The coroner's
wagon did not arrive until four hours later.
A fellow homeless cried loudly, holding
a plastic cup containing some liquor.
"He was my friend," he kept saying.
As in the rest of the world, the homeless
in Cuba tend to be alcoholics.
Medical researchers identify two peaks
in alcoholism in Cuba: the sugar harvest
of 1970 and the period of the African wars.
Many of these homeless are detritus from
those wars who have long since drunk their
medals.
Versión
original en español
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