FROM
CUBA
Cuban police beat handicapped street
vendors
HAVANA, December 19 (www.cubanet.org)
- A police raid directed against street
vendors during which officers beat a number
of blind and maimed vendors provoked popular
protests in Guanabacoa, across the bay from
Havana.
On December 10, police swept through Cadena
Street, between División and Versalles
Streets, in an effort to clear the area
of many of the essentially dispossessed
who eke out a living by selling odds and
ends.
Agents picked up all those who did not
have proper permits, in many cases beating
them when they refused to cooperate. Bystanders
report that the victims defended themselves
with their canes and crutches, and some
even with the products they were attempting
to sell.
At some point during the raid, area residents
tried to help the vendors and police called
in the anti-riot squad. More than 30 were
arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.
These people are now looking at possible
sentences of from three months to a year
in jail, and fines of between 100 and 300
pesos.
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