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HAVANA, September 5 (Anna Rosa Veitía, Grupo Decoro /
www.cubanet.org) - Cubans travelers, who wait long hours by the side of a
highway in hopes that some means of getting to their destination will
materialize in spite of the island’s ongoing fuel crisis, are increasingly
reporting that police officers are turning necessity into a profitable sideline,
and using official vehicles, to boot.
A typical report says that on Saturday, August 31, six policemen driving a
Renault truck with license plate number HV6884, outbound from Havana, picked up
75 travelers who were waiting by the side of the "Ocho Vías" or
"Eight Lanes," Cuba’s main interprovincial highway.
One of the officers, wearing uniform pants and a white T-shirt, climbed on
the truck’s bed, where the passengers ride standing, asked for silence, and
announced the fares: "San José, Güines, and San Nicolás,
10 pesos. Sancti Spíritus, 30 pesos. Camagüey, 50 pesos, and Las
Tunas, 80 pesos." He then proceeded to collect.
"This often happens on weekends, when the officers go out on a pass,
and since most of them are from the provinces, they take the trucks," said
one of the 75 passengers.
Versión
original en español
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