In a personal diary, Veronica Vega describes the collapse of public transport in Cuba, comparing it to the 1980s and the Special Period crisis. Despite current desperate conditions, hope emerges for change driven by cultural expressions and predictions of transformation. Vega concludes that Cuba is worth it as a place to stay and build a future.
Veronica Vega, in her diary published on Havana Times, recalls how in the 1980s in Alamar, Havana, there were six bus routes, including a local line, and even a service to the eastern beaches during summer vacations. Public transportation allowed a life with 'a basic dose of poetry': clean vehicles, no overcrowding or harassment. Yet no one questioned the source of oil or dollar stores accessible only to foreigners, amid the dream of an emerging socialism like that of the Soviet Union, East Germany, and Czechoslovakia.
Cubans traveled to those countries to study or work, returning with clothes and appliances, though some defected. The 1990 collapse raised questions: if they were doing well, why did they fall? Why didn't Cuba fall first? Today, thirty-six years later, Cuba faces a generalized collapse worse than the Special Period: near-total dysfunction, unsanitary conditions, rampant inflation, and extreme desperation. Trips from Havana to the east cost 25,000 pesos, five times most monthly salaries. There is no fuel for airplanes, and boarding school students are being relocated.
During the Special Period, buses were replaced by trucks called Metrobus. Vega recounts selling handicrafts with her mother at the G y 23 fair in Vedado, who nostalgized pre-1959 streetcar service. The author experienced a streetcar in Saint-Etienne, France, appreciating a modern, functional world.
Between what was promised and what came, faith was lost in an overwhelming process of destruction. Yet social media videos use artificial intelligence to reconstruct places: grotesque garbage dumps disappear, ruins become skyscrapers. Songs express love for Cuba, speaking of divine blessing over an island frozen in time. Geopolitical analysts, seers, astrologers, and others assure the end of the curse is approaching, with a breaking point and regeneration.
Reports mention supposed U.S. ships and aircraft stationed around the island by Donald Trump's order, reigniting hope despite the oil crisis. People say: 'Now something really has to happen. Because this can't go on.' While the government speaks of harsher sacrifices, exhaustion has turned into awareness of building a future in Cuba, not just in exile. Young people express themselves freely on social media, and Vega feels for the first time in many close to her: 'Cuba is worth it' as a place to remain.
