Havana/The freshest news this Saturday on a street in Havana was four days late. “Read the press!” proclaimed an old man sitting on a wall, with several copies of the newspaper. Granma settled in an improvised wheelbarrow. Each one cost 20 pesos and they all had the same date: November 10, 2026. In a country where almost everything arrives late, from electricity to bread, the official press is not in much of a hurry either.
The seller, one of the few remaining in Havana selling newspapers, was wearing a dark, long-sleeved shirt and was holding an open copy in his hands. Beside him, a cardboard box overflowed with carefully folded copies of the official organ of the Communist Party. “The package of 20 costs 400 pesos,” he added out loud, on the corner of Infanta and Carlos III, as if announcing a unique opportunity.
The pages of ‘Granma’ have a commercial advantage: they do not age because they hardly change and they are not subjected to the corrosive acid of reality.
“Grandpa, I thought he Granma It no longer existed,” joked a young man who came to look at the date printed on the cover. The occurrence was funny. The island’s main newspaper has become a rarity in its printed format. Between the shortage of paper, distribution difficulties and the growing interest of Cubans in getting information online, finding a copy is almost as surprising as stumbling upon an empty bus during rush hour.
The most curious thing is that the old man did not announce a sale of backlogged newspapers nor did he offer the lot as material to wrap avocados. “Read the press!” he insisted, with the conviction of someone selling information fresh off the press. The subtleties of the calendar did not fit into his proclamation.
Although the price, 20 pesos for a newspaper, may seem like a small thing compared to the inflation that devours salaries, it is still a payment for news that is already out of date. Of course, the speeches, slogans and promises for the future that usually fill the pages of Granma They have a commercial advantage: they do not age because they hardly change and they are not subjected to the corrosive acid of reality.
