CUBANET ... CUBANEWS

February 4, 2002



FROM CUBA

Survival through illegality

Claudia Márquez Linares, Grupo de Trabajo Decoro

HAVANA, January (www.cubanet.org) - In Cuba, buying a house is impossible, at least through legal means. The State has created a machinery of forbidding decrees that impose severe penalties upon those who violate housing laws.

Something as simple as repairing a house depends on the approval of the municipal housing authorities. As far as building a house by private means, according to a source in the field, they are only delivering cement, sand and others, the Ministries of Sugar, Construction and Interior. People who decide to build must have all documentation for the materials in order, as approved by those entities. If not, they run the risk that the house will be confiscated.

In spite of the official assurances that most heads of households own their own homes, there are strong obstacles to adding residents to one’s address, which means that many cannot legalize their status, especially those who move from one province to another. According to sources in the field, approximately 200,000 live illegally in Havana’s 18 municipalities.

Behind the government's control on the sale of building materials, it is possible to obtain them in the black market. This is the avenue many Cubans take to build their homes illegally.

According to the Department of the Census of Housing and Population, the number of those not registered is upwards of 400,000.

It is evident that the Cuban State’s zeal to control everything is detrimental to citizens that don’t belong to the privileged class.


Versión original en español


CubaNet does not require sole rights from its contributors. We authorize the reproduction and distribution of this article as long as the source is credited.

[ BACK TO THE NEWS ]

Cuban independent press mailing list

La Tienda - Books, posters, t-shirts, caps

In Association with Amazon.com

Search:


SEARCH NEWS

Advance Search


SECCIONES

NOTICIAS
Prensa Independiente
Prensa Internacional
Prensa Gubernamental

OTHER LANGUAGES
Spanish
German
French

INDEPENDIENTES
Cooperativas Agrícolas
Movimiento Sindical
Bibliotecas
MCL

DEL LECTOR
Letters
Cartas
Debate
Opinión

BUSQUEDAS
News Archive
News Search
Documents
Links

CULTURA
Painters
Photos of Cuba
Cigar Labels

CUBANET
Semanario
About Us
Informe Anual
E-Mail


CubaNet News, Inc.
145 Madeira Ave,
Suite 207
Coral Gables, FL 33134
(305) 774-1887