Giacomo Greco : Los Cocos De Cuba
Los Cocos De Cuba is a chapter of a bigger project regarding the housing crisis whose first part regards Italy.
Immigrants to Santiago from Soledat, a municipality of Segundo Frente, following the wave of post-revolutionary urbanization, the extended family of Caridad, Norquis, and Angel, three brothers, settled in the barrio in the year 1977, building a house with their efforts.
In 2012, following the hurricane Sandy that devastated the Caribbean, their wooden house was ripped out, forcing the family to live in precarious conditions.
Although the family is on a list for popular housing, the consequences of Hurricane Sandy and the subsequent Hurricane Irma in 2017 have lengthened waiting times. Caridad, the older sister, now retired, has worked all her life as a custodian at the “Universidad de Oriente”, while Norquis having a son with a mental retardation to care for, sells on the street or in the market, nougat prepared at home or the fruits harvested by Angel, the youngest brother.
After the Cuban revolution, government investments made it possible to build about two and a half million houses. Internal politics aims to stimulate the construction of housing in urban areas and to stabilize the population that is still migrating to the big cities. Although the effort was huge, around 39% of the buildings on the island are still in poor condition.
