HAVANA, July 31 (Juan Carlos Linares, Cuba Voz) - The government launched "Operation
Rake" in the Arroyo Naranjo municipality of Havana this week to combat
pervasive black market operations.
The sweeps, which will extend to home searches, confiscation of goods,
arrests, and fines, are to be carried out by agents of the Technical
Investigations Department, local officials and members of the Committees for the
Defense of the Revolution (CDR), said the president of one CDR who wanted to
remain anonymous.
The same source also said the police action will be focused in places with
a higher concentration of self-employed workers and in which reports have been
received of traffic in illegal merchandise. The purpose of Operation Rake is "to
reassert government control of the economy and to intimidate the population that
directly or indirectly looks to the black market to mitigate daily needs,"
said a State inspector participating in the operation.
Reports of the results of the government sweep are already coming in. One
resident said officials confiscated a UHF TV antenna, which he was told is
illegal. He also said a neighbor of his who sold candy for a living was fined
1,500 pesos. The man, he said, did not have a license for the activity because
authorities won't issue it.
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