Under Communism, Cubans Caught in Collapsing Condos
When Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba in 1959, he vowed to demolish “hellish tenements” and provide new, safe houses for his countrymen. Now, nearly 60 years later, the country’s buildings are collapsing at an alarming rate, leaving many Cubans with the option of either continuing to live in death traps or moving to the government’s overcrowded shelters.
“It makes you feel like going and living under a bridge,” Havana resident Carlos Guerrero, 45, told USA Today.
Officially, one building in Havana collapses, in whole or in part, almost every day. “Some 3,856 partial or total building collapses were reported in Havana from 2000 to 2013, not including 2010 and 2011 when no records were kept,” wrote USA Today. However, in 2012, the BBC reported that “it is said that three houses collapse either partially or completely every single day.”...