In her diary, Lien Estrada recounts dealing with the aftermath of chikungunya and dengue in Cuba, where medicines are a scarce treasure. She expresses frustration over physical limitations and criticizes the government for allegedly preferring a debilitated population. She thanks friends for sharing vitamins and painkillers.
Lien Estrada, a Cuban writer, shares in Havana Times her personal experience with the aftermath of chikungunya, which she has endured for three months, followed by dengue. She describes how a friend of her mother gifted multivitamin supplements, received with great joy, as in Cuba painkillers, sedatives, and vitamins are 'true treasures.' She cannot walk much without suffering intense pain the next day; from her window, she gazes at a hill she used to traverse daily, but now cannot even imagine completing it.
Estrada notes that her hands lacked strength, fearing she would have to bid farewell to the guitar, but recently she has resumed basic exercises and feels relief at being able to play it a little. Her aunt suffers nighttime pains so severe they wake her, preparing to accept them as chronic. Estrada emphasizes that pills ease daily life, allowing one to 'breathe with more peace and fewer complaints.'
In a critical tone, she recounts that friends believe the virus was spread by the government to keep people bedridden rather than protesting for rights. She argues that the chaos of hunger and scarcity benefits the state, which in programs like 'Cuadrando la caja' promises solutions she doubts. She feels Cuba is like a 'giant tomb for the living,' with half the population jailed for peaceful protests and the rest 'imprisoned' unknowingly. Despite it all, she thanks the solidarity: aspirins, Tylenol, ibuprofen, alprazolam, and messages of encouragement, which keep hope alive amid the catastrophe.