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FROM
CUBA
Self-employed
coachmen march to protest abuses
HAVANA, August 1 (www.cubanet.org) - Thirty-four
self-employed coachmen marched on the headquarters
of the Camagüey municipal government Wednesday
to protest perceived abuses perpetrated on them
by police and government inspectors.
In a statement read at the site, Orisbel Chinea
pointed out the disproportionate fines and fees
the drivers of horse-drawn carts used for transportation
must pay to ply their trade. In addition to fines
imposed by police, transportation and municipal
services inspectors, coachmen pay 30 pesos for
street cleaning, 35 pesos for parking privileges,
and 250 pesos for a license to the National Revenue
Office.
Government officials told the coachmen about
the economic and political difficulties the country
is going through, and the coachmen withdrew without
having obtained any concrete answers to their
concerns.
"They only offered utopian promises,"
said José Agramonte.
Horse-drawn vehicles have become an important
means of transportation in Camagüey, due
to the lack of fuel and other resources.
Meantime, in Bayamo, in eastern Granma province,
coachmen struck briefly, paralyzing transportation.
For their troubles, they received a sermon from
the president of the local government and were
obligated to sing the national anthem.
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