Güines, My Little Venice

By Benito Barrios Rodríguez

July 30, 2001 (www.cubaencuentro.com) - Governmental irresponsibility and ineptitude have turned this town in Havana Province into a caricature of itself.

Every time I visit Güines, my hometown, I remember with sadness the times when the Mayabeque river flowed clear—in clean canals that we used to call “ditches”—throughout town and I compare them with its present status. The canals are dry, with great amounts of decomposed organic materials that give them an unpleasant appearance and smell, plus the amount of mosquitoes that find there, optimal conditions for its proliferation.

One time I went to visit Mr. Suazo, who was my spiritual advisor during our Presbyterian youth and an employee of Güines Irrigation Community. We talked about the origins of the ditches, because it seems that the first inhabitants settled to the west of the river, where the lands are more fertile. The river signals a change in the lands, due to the fact that it is located in the border area between the very productive plains of red soil which extends up to Pinar del Río Province and the black soil plain that reaches Matanzas Province. To achieve these objectives, a considerable amount of irrigation channels were built.

With the passage of time the town kept growing and urban planning was made taking into account the existence of such canals. The Villa of Güines turned into a beautiful town crisscrossed by them, the houses and buildings for all kind of activities were built taking advantage of this singular fact, because they had big windows and balconies facing the ditches. In the town outskirts there were houses with small recreation pools and others within the town, built over such canals.

Due to the economic importance of the river, Güines had an agriculture-based economy and it relied on its water for its development. Güines Irrigation Community was created with the purpose of water distribution, as well as the maintenance of the canals and the cleaning of the river and its banks. Infinite care was provided to the canals by the employees of the Irrigation Community, keeping them clean year around and were extremely careful with the water quality running through them. Those who dumped garbage or other contaminants in the water were fined, and the river and its banks were cleaned with care to avoid the growth of undesirable plants that would diminish its flow. In one word, it was a real pleasure to walk through Güines and enjoy the charm of its houses, parks and ditches, where the waters of the Mayabeque river flowed, clean and crystal clear as our life.

Today, it is a veritable disaster. The river was dammed without taking into consideration the consequences that would arise in the future. The canals are dry and have a lot of objects that make very difficult the flow of water, even during the rainy season. Some thoughtless citizens throw in all kinds of garbage and even raw sewage is seeping in. These decomposed organic materials create a very unpleasant smell: the canals have turned into mosquito breeding places. You also have to add the negligence by those responsible of Communities within the Popular Power, who are in charge of keeping in optimal condition the cleaning of the city.

What in other times made Güines into a Little Venice, has been turned into a true social and ecological disaster, besides creating a potential health hazard for its inhabitants.

Last January 28, a small group of “Güineros” extremely worried on account of this situation, gathered in front of José Martí’s bust in the park carrying his name—and which is severely affected by this disaster. We promised ourselves to fight so one day the clear waters that we so much loved and that at some time helped to the town’s development, will return to flow throughout those canals.