Recent photo of Güines’ Gethsemane Presbyterian Church, October 2002. Note the conditions of the street and the roof's eaves. Photo by Elodia Basaco, Whittier, California

View of Güines’ Gethsemane Presbyterian Church, the way it looks today, October 2002. In the background, Angulo Building. Photo by Elodia Basaco, Whittier, California

Two More Suicides Raise the
Total to 62 for the Year

By José Izquierdo, Grupo Decoro (Decorum Group)

Güines, December 4, 2002 (www.cubanet.org) - Another two residents of Güines, a city located in Havana Province, took their lives, increasing to 62 this year, the amount of suicides in this locality, a source in the Municipal Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology informed.

The suicides took place during the week from November 24 to December 1. They were Omar Manresa, 40 years old and Omaida Izquierdo, 39.

Manresa died by shooting himself in the face with a caliber 22 rifle. It is said that he suffered from serious nervous problems.

Mrs. Izquierdo committed suicide by ingesting an undetermined amount of prednisone tablets, a medicine used for treating certain types of allergies. The overdose of such medicine caused a cardiac arrest. Family members stated that recently Mrs. Izquierdo suffered the amputation of a foot, which was probably the cause why she killed herself.

The source at the Municipal Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology stated that Güines Municipality is among the Cuban areas with one of the highest indexes of deaths by suicide.