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FROM
CUBA
Fishmonger escapes as police shoot at him
SANTA CLARA, Cuba - June 17 (Guillermo
Fariñas, Cubanacán Press /
www.cubanet.org) - A fishmonger jumped over
the railing of a bridge into the river 12
feet below to escape as police shot at him
from above.
The man finally made his getaway downstream
after he climbed the bank of the Bélico
river and disappeared into a marginal settlement
known locally as El Chambery.
The man, who had been selling fish from
his bicycle, abandoned both fish and bicycle
on the bridge as he fled. The sale of fish
by a private citizen is illegal in Cuba.
An eyewitness, Jesús Hernández,
of the El Condado neighborhood, described
the incident: "The man was hawking
his fish down Barcelona Street, riding his
Chinese-made bicycle with a plastic box
attached to a rear carrier." In the
box he had, said Hernández, filleted
amura, a fresh-water fish introduced into
Cuban aquaculture from China some years
back that has found some favor among local
consumers.
As the fishmonger crossed the bridge over
the Bélico river, continued Hernández,
police intercepted him and the man abandoned
his bicycle and jumped into the stream.
Police at first shouted at him to stop,
and then fired three pistol shots at him,
said Hernández.
The shots riled a number of local residents
who had congregated to watch.
"Let the man sell what the government
cannot offer the people," yelled one
elderly woman, according to Hernández.
Another, Hernández said, yelled:
"You should think he's trying to survive
and provide for his family."
Police collected the bicycle and the fish
and withdrew from the site.
Versión
original en español
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