|
FROM
CUBA
Bus passengers searched three times in 60-mile
trip in Cuba
HAVANA, May 3 (Moisés Leonardo
Rodríguez Valdés, Grupo Decoro
/ www.cubanet.org) - Police stopped a bus,
made all passengers get off, and searched
them three times last Tuesday, all in the
space of a 60-mile trip between San Cristóbal,
in Pinar del Río province and the
city of Havana.
Felipe Gavilla, who lives near San Cristóbal,
said they were first searched just outside
of town, then a short while later in Candelaria,
and finally in Artemisa, closer to Havana.
Five passengers were arrested in Candelaria,
after the second search, and taken away
in patrol cars. Police said nothing to indicate
what they were looking for.
Generally, police search buses serving
inter-provincial routes, and especially
those inbound to Havana, looking for merchandise
which it is forbidden to transport, such
as cheese, coffee, rat poison and cockroach
powder.
Most people transporting these goods do
so to eke out a meager income, expecting
to sell home-made cheeses, or other agricultural
products in the city.
The goods, once found, are confiscated
and those carrying them are fined between
500 and 1,500 pesos. The average monthly
salary in Cuba is 250 pesos.
Versión
original en español
|
