HAVANA, February 22 (Rafael Pérez, AFPCP) - A sweep by police and
Commerce Ministry inspectors had its major impact on street vendors, most of
whom are very poor retirees, seeking to supplement their meager pensions, in the
La Lisa district of Havana.
Officials confiscated merchandise and imposed fines of 750 pesos on vendors
who didn't have the required licenses.
Typically, the vendors sell sundries such as candles, small religious
prints, some food items, and newspapers.
One vendor, Matildo Reinaldo Crespo Díaz, agreed to talk for
publication. He said that both he and his epileptic daughter must make do on his
pension of 220 pesos a month and whatever else he can scrounge up. "I had
27 candles and 10 razor blades for sale. I was sitting at the curb on 160th
Street, between 65th and 69th, when sergeant Javier Rodríguez and
inspector Hilario Hernández confiscated the merchandise and took me to
the police station. There they fined me 750 pesos for 'illicit economic
activity' and 30 pesos for not having my identity card."
"I don't have the money to pay the fine and no way to get it either; I
sell candles but I am not a thief. If they put me in jail for not paying the
fine, my daughter will have no one to care for her," he said.
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