14ymedio, Madrid, 22 January 2024 — Russian media has discovered that dozens of Cubans are clearing large amounts of snow from Moscow streets. Last weekend the online news site MSK1 interviewed a group of young people from the island who do this work in the Arbat and Khamovniki districts.
“My name is Robert. I’m from Cuba,” said the head of the makeshift brigade. “Generally, my team has 150 to 200 people. We work in the Arbat but we can work wherever they might need us. We came here on our own, voluntarily, not as part of a government program.”
MSK1 met in a fast-food restaurant with some of Robert’s team members, who said emphatically that they were very satisified with their Russian jobs. “There is no one from Cuba controlling us. My boss is Uzbek. My salary comes straight to me. I don’t have to hand it over to anyone,” one of them says smiling.
According to these immigrants, their pay is almost double what they would receive in Cuba. They can also buy most things at very affordable prices
Their salary, they claim, is 34,000 rubles a month, more than 9,000 Cuban pesos. According to these immigrants, their pay is almost double what they would earn in Cuba. They can also buy most things at very affordable prices. In Cuba, they report, they would need at least 3,000 pesos to buy a canned cola — alternatively, a domestically produced version goes for 220 pesos — but in Russia it is much cheaper and they can drink as much soda or eat as many hamburgers as they like.
Judging from accounts on social media, Cuban recruits have been removing snow from Russian streets for years. What the MSK1 reporter chooses to focus on, however, is the Cubans’ dark complexions, which — he takes pains to point out — constrast with the whiteness of the snow. This has made them the center of attention of local res