Identidades in English No 3, September 2014 | Page 17

everyone says it was someone from Casablanca.
And we say: Damn! Not everything happens because of our squatter town.”
Interviewer: Talk to me about the medical situation.
MZG: I was in serious condition, suffering terribly from kidney pains. I had stones and got rid of
them by using green medicine, because I went to
the Naval Hospital and they said: We can take you
in emergency, but we cannot give you a check up
nor follow up on you, because you don’t have an
address here.” And you know? This neighborhood is right behind the hospital. So, it’s only for
emergencies. That’s the way it is, right at the very
moment. And they’ve told us: “If you have a pain,
we’ll give you a shot and you leave. If you can’t
cure yourself, and you die, it’s your problem. Because you live where you have no right to live.”
Interviewer: What about people in this neighborhood? Do they have honest work?
MZG: Everyone here wants to work. But they’ve
had to find alternatives, and we keep being
blocked. For example, I drive a bicitaxi. Since my
official address is in San Antonio, when I work in
Havana, I get fines for illegal economic activity,
despite the fact I have a national license. People
want to work, but if they don’t have an official
change of address, they have no right to work anywhere.
II
Interviewee: My name is Yadisleimis Sosa Quiñones. I have three children. This little one here
was born here. He’s four months old. My daughter was two when we got here, and the other one
was four.
Interviewer: What is your impression of the living conditions in this settlement?
YSQ: Not good, because the neighborhood is illegal. When it rains, everything gets wet, because
the roof tiles are just sitting up there.
Interviewer: Do the government authorities or
Peoples’ Power authorities take care of your
needs and address your claims?
YSQ: No. We are ignored. It’s even hard for us to
vote. They say that those of us who live in the
squatter settlements have to vote wherever their
legal addresses are. Everything here is in vane.

The children have no rations, nor any attention at
all. You have to try to sign up through some family member’s address.
Interviewer: Even though the children were born
here?
YSQ: Yes. Even though they were born here.

Interviewer: Please explain to me the situation
with your eleven-year old daughter’s illness.
YSQ: My daughter has Cerebral Palsy. When she
was one, she got a high fever and the pediatrician
told me that it was because she was teething. But
I took her to the Pediatric Hospital in Central Havana, and they diagnosed her with meningoe