HAVANA TIMES – A stressed-out friend visits me. He tells me that a family has invaded his house. Even the local government representative, the delegate, has come to resolve the issue, but they have outright refused to leave. This is how my friend, the poet Ghabriel Perez, explains what he did next. He went to the 1st Police Station, where they told him that it wasn’t the right place to seek help, and that he should go to the 2nd Police Station. So, he went where they told him to go. But there, they said no, it wasn’t their responsibility either —it was at the 1st station, where he had already gone.
He continues telling me: “They started giving me the runaround” (we say that in Cuba when they send you from one place to another without solving the problem), and after much pleading, they tell me it’s not their issue. The National Revolutionary Police can intervene when state property is occupied, but not private property. They said it had to be dealt with by the Prosecutor’s Office.
So, he went there next. The Prosecutor’s Office told him he had to file a complaint. An investigation would be carried out, which could take 30 to 60 days. Only then would they proceed according to the law. He filed the complaint immediately. Both my friend and I suspect that this bitter incident may have been induced by the State itself. Many of our mutual friends think the same.
Even though Ghabriel Perez is a recognized poet —he won the City Prize, has published b
