Story of a fearless woman

These are stories that do not make headlines because it is usual and pertinent to highlight these anonymous heroics, which have shone so brightly these days associated with the tragedy that Guantanamo is experiencing today.

However, a brief comment on Facebook allows us to find the end of the thread of a skein that reveals the admirable behavior of Vice Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Cuba, Inés María Chapman Waugh, when in San Antonio del Sur, the fake news of a break in the curtain of the Pozo Azul dam was spread.

In a matter of minutes, panic and confusion reigned, the inhabitants desperately climbed into trucks trying to flee from what could be a cataclysm... and while everyone ran away from the dam, Chapman Waugh, in equal haste, also left the place, but in the opposite direction to the people: she went towards the dam.

This is what a friend of journalist Lazaro Manuel Alonso told him, this man was on site, and his testimony was replicated verbatim by Alonso on Facebook.

The authenticity of the anecdote is corroborated by the video broadcast live by the Vice Prime Minister herself immediately after she arrived at Pozo Azul and where, under the rain, she let everyone know that the dam's curtain had not been damaged and that it was just a wicked lie.

Without searching for words too much, moved by urgency, she herself recorded the video calling for calm, showing the reality, denying and informing with the speed and commitment that Cubans deserve.

“As you can see, here we are. It's raining, a fine drizzle, and here is the dam that I'm showing you. There are the sheep, they are grazing normally. Here are the comrades from the FAR who accompanied us up here, the president of the Municipal Council, the comrades from Hydraulic Resources, the head of the dam, everything. It is quiet in here.”

With calm and convincing words, she explained that absolutely nothing was happening with the dam, it was fake news. And his brow furrowed as she made “a call to people who have no human sensitivity, who have no sensitivity to the times we are living, times in which the population is united, in the recovery phase, and in which we will continue to work.”

She concluded her timely and necessary message by inviting: “to the entire population, peace in San Antonio, to the entire population of Guantánamo and to the entire population of Cuba. Here we are at the Pozo Azul dam (…) and absolutely nothing is happening. Long live the Cuban Revolution. Here we are and we will remain firm to recover from all the damage caused by Hurricane Oscar. Homeland or Death, We Will Triumph!”

Without makeup or any orator’s extravaganza, Chapman spoke, convinced of the importance of her message, without fear, with urgency. Her responsibility had driven her to go towards the supposed danger, and her behavior and message not only rescued tranquility but also, without intending to, left a great example of what Cuban women can do, of what it means to be a servant of the people as a leader.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff