FROM
CUBA
Rough time to be a pedicab driver
Marilyn Díaz Fernández,
Lux Info Press
CAMAGÜEY, Cuba - May (www.cubanet.org)
- "The situation is bad, man. They
don't want to give you a permit to work
and they are always after you." So
says a 25-year-old pedicab driver in the
city of Camagüey known to everyone
simply as "Havana."
The "they" he is talking about
is the National Police, who stop pedicab
drivers asking for their working papers
and, absent those, can fine them up to 1500
pesos.
The catch is that the government office
in charge of granting the permits, the National
Office of Tributary Administration, is not
granting permits and hasn't for some time.
"Havana" says he has spent a long
time on a waiting list for his
license. Thus, he, like many others who
also pedal the streets for their income,
play a cat and mouse game with police.
"I can't stop, my man, because if
I do, my mother and I would starve. How
am I going to make a living? This morning
I spent 200 pesos in some things to eat,
and I didn't get anything very substantial.
It's a good thing there's only the two of
us," he concluded.
"Worst part is, all we are trying
to do is make a few bucks, and we even help
with the transportation problem, which is
horrible. But that evidently bugs the government,
and they won't allow us to become legal.
All we want to do
is be allowed to work," he said.
Versión
original en español
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