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Claudia Márquez Linares, Grupo Decoro
HAVANA, October (www.cubanet.org) - "In the black market you can find
anything you want, even a casket," said Gustavo, a "bisnero" who
sells whatever comes to hand in Havana’s Cayo Hueso neighborhood.
His latest offering: the jeans that the government’s dollar stores will
be displaying soon. He has them now. At lower prices.
In the black market, Cuban mothers find school uniforms for the children.
The government only makes available for purchase two suits during the primary
school years; one at age 5 and another at age 10.
Rosa paid 70 pesos for her 7-year-old’s uniform. Her salary as the
administrator of a food enterprise is 171 pesos a month. "Under the table
is the only way I can get the kid a decent uniform, because he’s already
outgrown the original one," she said.
Corruption has become a way of life after a decade of hardship. Theft from
the workplace is usual; a few pounds of meat, say, may be taken from the
slaughterhouse for later sale, but anything can be "commercialized":
driver’s licenses, high school diplomas, jobs in the tourist sector.
"Everybody steals, from the manager to the butcher. People have to
live, and without dollars nothing can be done," said Roberto, a History
student at the University of Havana, who goes door to door renting video tapes.
"For each tape I make two pesos. It’s something, no?" The tapes
can be soap operas, or variety shows from abroad.
Mirtha sells sanitary napkins. "They [government rationing authorities]
only sell them every three months. If you don’t steal them, how are women
going to make do? This way, everybody wins, the ones who steal them from the
factory and the consumers who don’t have dollars to buy them at the dollar
stores."
Every government enterprise has an "internal market" that the
workers themselves create according to demand. If you want to get a quality
filling on a tooth, you only have to find the "link" to connect to
someone at the dental clinic. The same holds with X-rays or doctors, who,
depending on the specialty, can take months to see. The green bills open all
sorts of doors.
When it comes to jobs, the first thing Cubans ask is, can one make something
extra, aside from salary? It’s a response to salaries averaging the
equivalent in pesos of 10 dollars a month, and prices such as 35 cents for a bar
of soap, and 1.95 for a liter of oil.
Versión
original en español | 
