Mothers and children move into former boxing academy in Santa Clara

Seventeen mothers and 73 children occupy a building in Santa Clara while seeking a solution to housing problems. The group moved into a former boxing academy in the El Caracatey neighborhood of Villa Clara. The families say they arrived because they lacked homes and some members lived in difficult conditions.

Several women say they have waited more than ten years for a response from Cuban authorities to housing applications. They place that claim before moving into the building and describe a prolonged search for shelter. The families continue waiting for responses to requests they say have remained pending for years.

The families describe the academy as a building long without regular sports use. They also say some lived in precarious conditions and lacked homes. Those circumstances, according to their account, influenced the decision to move in. The location in El Caracatey places the case in Santa Clara.

The women report patrols, eviction threats and warnings of possible criminal consequences if they do not leave. Those allegations come from the occupants, who have expressed concern about the warnings. The situation combines a search for shelter with fear that remaining in the academy will bring consequences.

The mothers also fear being separated from their children, according to the families. That concern joins the lack of a housing solution and the wait for responses to applications. The group remains in the building while seeking attention to its needs and questioning a possible eviction.