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FROM
CUBA
To be a street vendor in Cuba
Roberto Santana Rodríguez
HAVANA, Cuba - October (www.cubanet.org)
- The cry of "Agua" heard in a
Cuban street could make a foreigner think
of water. One more savvy in the idiosyncrasies
of Cuban Spanish might think of rain, and
both would be correct.
Up to a point.
But as a woman named Mercedes found out
just as she was about to buy a mop from
a street vendor, "Agua" means
street vendors vanish, instantaneously,
like a wisp of smoke.
"Agua" is the cry that warns
street vendors that a policeman or inspector
just hove into view. And being nabbed by
one of these usually entails the loss of
one's goods and money, and a fine that can
go as high as 1500 pesos.
The many who attempt to fill consumer needs
that the government, in its all-encompassing
planning cannot, are by definition permit-less
and therefore illegal. Yet out of either
economic necessity or sheer cussedness,
they persist, stubborn entrepreneurs that
the government strives to stamp out.
They sell anything, from food to clothing,
digital watches, medication for an upset
stomach, parts for home appliances, or mops.
Mercedes went on, hoping she can find another
vendor who will sell her a mop for 25 pesos,
or one dollar. The one she's been using
has seen its day. She bought it at the government's
dollar store, and didn't last even two months.
Versión
original en español
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