Skin boobies: selling subsistence to two Cuban children

say “at 70 each” a Ten year old boy When I asked him if he was the one holding me The boobies you carry, dead and without feathers or skin, Inside a bucket hanging from his bike.

When he realizes that he misunderstood, he corrects himself: “No, My brother hunts them, we both skin them, and I distribute them in the neighborhood“.

forever There are people waiting. You can see the neighborhood outside when the boy passes by.

I heard they call him “Joshua”. Out of wisdom, I don’t ask him where he lives. But it is not necessary. He stands in front of a small house from which a woman emerges, who turns out to be his mother:

“Are you done yet? Come on!” I yelled at him, worried that I might be an informant.

The three live in cayparinin a marginalization Warm of loving and inhospitable at the same time, the sewers of dampness and misery.

Nearby, in a place known as “Indaya or Aguasindia”, lives Adela Hernández, the first transgender delegate of the Municipal Assembly of town in cuba.

I ask her as a representative of the constituency This is the family that clearly needs help.

He replied, “I’ve warned everyone here. I’ll see the little one. The Re-education Farm will take them. And then, you know.”

Jose’s brother is named Emilio. She is 15 years old. He dropped out of high school to devote himself to “Barrow Fighting.”.

Last December, Jose and his mother were called by the principal of Alberto Pace Elementary School – now in a state of collapse – “to see what the student would do,” since then Since the course began in November, he has “missed more classes than he attended”.

The fourth grade group he belonged to was the only one who couldn’t find a room to move into. So the children go “to Bertola,” the mother explains.

They have not gone to look for Emilio yet, but it is already known that he will lose the year.

Attending eighth grade for the second time in elementary high school Julio Antonio Mila and “Comments” in the monastery “Teachers Finish Fifth and Mango”. He doesn’t explain what that means, and I don’t insist on it.

I ask them if they know the danger they are putting themselves in, not just by refusing Primary education, which is compulsory in Cubabut also for Violate the current fisheries lawWhich punishes violators with heavy fines and confiscation of means, including what is seized on the day.

Emilio answers: “And what shall we live for?” “My dad left with a querindanga and my mom doesn’t play the music.”

Jose lowers his head as he asks: “Were you the one who wanted koroa yesterday? Because today they didn’t bite. Two planes and more. Not even the shit of ‘rabihorcao’.”

I told him no, I don’t know if they had tried those birds, they all taste a lot like oysters, making a joke.

I tell you that Not recommended because it is “risky, with a sandy taste, and even poisonous if the bird has swallowed a dead or contaminated fish.”I warn you to keep eating it.

They answer: “It’s just that you don’t know how to do it.” “It is boiled with brown sugar and guava leaves. You pour water three times and this way it does not taste so bad. Did you eat gutya from the keys? In Conoco there are some. But it’s ‘joyoyas’…. We caught iguanas there. Delicious.”

Law 129, adopted in 2020, Commercial fishing is prohibited in dams, pens and nets From the site or any kind of similar fishing gear, in Cuban marine waters Always.

I advise you that “from the shore with fishing line, The only way to not be fined is to catch fish, not birds“.

These guys, cLike many other urgent CubansThey use trolling to catch their prey.

Because “fishing is just a betta fish floating with the bait on its end, which is made of rope (nylon) and a plastic ‘fish’ and a hook,” they explain.

Neighbors also fish on rafts forbidden from foam Handmade, in various places like Pedraplén or La Guinea, and within Buenavista Bay, is very dirty today.

To this end, they take advantage of the ‘backfilling’, which takes place at set times, and go to La Sortija (a small bridge that connects that salt lake to the sea, on the Cayo Conoco Highway), to wait for the ‘bugs’.

Those who catch oysters are in no danger of losing woody pandurga or cane jam, and the police usually burn them in a crematorium, if they find a place to hide from their official eyes.

They get up early and when the sun comes up they come back with the fish ready to be transportedDodge roadside watch: The Sportfishing base is located at the entrance itself. The guard in the sentry box has precise instructions and a phone on hand.

The choir brothers concluded, noting the unstoppable – and priceless – illegal outings that take place in the area: “It’s a ‘Bradja de Segretas’ that enters the yoma every day.