In the early morning, Florida resident Gisela Salgado headed to a local store with a bag stuffed with clothes, coffee and powdered milk to send to her brother in Cuba. She was not alone. Even though some shipping agents in the Sunshine State have restricted the mailing of packages to the nearby crisis-wracked, Communist-ruled island due to logistical problems caused by fuel shortages there, customers keep showing up.
In the Miami area, the economic and energy emergency in Cuba has revived an old debate: should Cuban Americans keep sending remittances and basic goods to loved ones, or cut off shipments seen by some as keeping the government in Havana afloat? At the main office of the Cubamax company in Hialeah, north-west of Miami, which handles remittances, shipping and travel, about 10 customers lined up before opening time. Some were carrying bags or pushing carts filled with basic necessities, while others just had envelopes filled with cash.
In Hialeah, where nearly three out of four residents are of Cuban descent, there is no question that shipments are a must. “Things there are terrible. People are starving, there’s nothing,” said Salgado, a 72-year-old who emigrated to the US four decades ago.
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“As long as my brother is there, I’ll keep sending him things. He has nothing to do with the government, and if I don’t send him anything, how will he eat?” Standing near her, 81-year-old Jose Rosell is at Cubamax to send food and toiletries to his 55-year-old son, a taxi driver in Santiago de Cuba who lost his job due to the fuel shortage.
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