Search Results for: coleros

The ‘Coleros’ Are Winning the Propaganda Battle Against the Communist Regime

14ymedio, Eliás Amor Bravo, Economist, August 26, 2020 — Are the coleros (people who stand in line for others) so bad? Is the repression against them justified? The unending lines that stretch for blocks in the early hours of dawn are a habitual phenomenon in the geography of Cuban commerce, above all for buying basic goods … Continue reading “The ‘Coleros’ Are Winning the Propaganda Battle Against the Communist Regime”

Cuba is Criticized for Home Detentions, Dollarization and Persecution of ‘Coleros’

14ymedio, Havana, August 3, 2020 — The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH), headquartered in Madrid, in its July report, denounced the consolidation of a new pattern of repression on the Island, keeping activists in their homes. According to the NGO, although the practice isn’t new, it has increased this year. Already in February, before … Continue reading “Cuba is Criticized for Home Detentions, Dollarization and Persecution of ‘Coleros’”

The Castro Regime Declares War on the ‘Coleros’

Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, August 4, 2020 — The Regime designed by Fidel Castro has been based historically on informing, pitting Cubans against each other. The Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs) were created to accomplish this mission. Denouncing deviant, non-revolutionary behavior was the slogan, so that then the authorities could take punitive … Continue reading “The Castro Regime Declares War on the ‘Coleros’”

Cuban Army, Police and Block Watch Committees Lead More than 3,000 Groups to Persecute ‘Coleros’ and ‘Hoarders’

14ymedio, Havana, 5 August 2020 — The front opened by Cuban authorities against the “scoundrels,” advanced in recent days by a media campaign, is already on the ground. According to Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, 3,054 groups have been created with 22,281 people to pursue coleros (people who stand in line for others), hoarders and illegal … Continue reading “Cuban Army, Police and Block Watch Committees Lead More than 3,000 Groups to Persecute ‘Coleros’ and ‘Hoarders’”

Defending the ‘Coleros’ and ‘Dishonest Speculators’

Elías Amor Bravo, Economist, 29 July 2020 — Granma, on its website, says that complaints from readers about so-called “dishonest speculators” are accumulating. Really, you can’t fall much lower or be worse. On the part of Granma, of course. The article, I can’t remember the author, describes the long lines and the coleros, who are … Continue reading “Defending the ‘Coleros’ and ‘Dishonest Speculators’”

‘Coleros’: The Business of Standing in Line / 14ymedio

14YMEDIO, 18 August 2014 – From Thursday night at 10:00 PM Anabel stood in the line at International Legal Counsel on 22nd Street in Playa. She’d already tried at dawn that morning, when she thought if she got there at 5:00 AM she would have a good chance. But she was wrong, they only took … Continue reading “‘Coleros’: The Business of Standing in Line / 14ymedio”

The ‘Mules’ Suffer Another Blow With the New Flight Restrictions in Cuba

14ymedio, Havana, 4 January 2021 — Cuban commerce was just beginning to take off when it suffered another blow. The Government of Havana’s restrictions on the number of flights that can come to Cuba, which came into force on January 1, has been bad news for the mules who feed Cuba’s informal networks, and bad … Continue reading “The ‘Mules’ Suffer Another Blow With the New Flight Restrictions in Cuba”

Sancti Spiritus Returns to Cooking With Firewood Due to the Shortage of Liquefied Gas

14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus | 16 December 2020 — A race against time is taking place in the streets of Sancti Spíritus. Before January 1st, families want to stock up on products that will increase in price on that date; liquified gas in particular, an alternative for cooking in the face of rising prices … Continue reading “Sancti Spiritus Returns to Cooking With Firewood Due to the Shortage of Liquefied Gas”

In Cuba: 30,800 Pounds of Beans Seized in the Latest Televised Police Operation

14ymedio, Havana, 28 October 2020 — Cuban State Television News once again dedicated space this Tuesday to the case against a main in Sancti Spíritus who had a storeroom with over 30,000 pounds of beans for sale on the black market. It is the most recent case of an arrest for illegal economic activity, a … Continue reading “In Cuba: 30,800 Pounds of Beans Seized in the Latest Televised Police Operation”

“For a Dialogue to be Positive Political Guarantees Must Exist,” says Reinaldo Escobar

14ymedio, Roberto Veiga González, Murcia/Havana | 18 October 2020 — Reinaldo Escobar participates in the most sensitive issue of Cuban political reality and, in addition, he does so in a direct, concrete way. The editor-in-chief of 14ymedio seeks to find the definitive starting point for a valid solution to our social problems. The change, the dialogue, the … Continue reading ““For a Dialogue to be Positive Political Guarantees Must Exist,” says Reinaldo Escobar”

King Dollar Rules Cuba More Every Day

14ymedio, Laura Rodríguez Fuentes, Santa Clara, 5 October 2020 — The seller of dollars suggests moving from his place on the sidewalk so that the park surveillance cameras do not record him red-handed. He walks to a nearby passageway of a family building and from his wallet he extracts a considerable bundle of bills: Cuban … Continue reading “King Dollar Rules Cuba More Every Day”

Ten Months in Prison for a Sancti Spiritus Reseller

14ymedio, Havana, 19 September 2020 — A resident of the Cabaiguán municipality, in Sancti Spíritus, was sentenced to ten months in prison for illicit economic activity within a network that sold essential items on digital platforms and which was dismantled by the Ministry of the Interior. Another citizen is being processed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, … Continue reading “Ten Months in Prison for a Sancti Spiritus Reseller”

The Most Masterful of All the Lines

14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus, 18 September 2020 —  The parks are empty in Sancti Spíritus. No one would think of sitting on a bench, for fear of fines, and because they would not waste time in a square, because the imperative is to use the hours when you can be on the street to look for … Continue reading “The Most Masterful of All the Lines”

Clandestinos: a Scandalous Silence

14ymedio, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 1 September 2020 — Popular voices state that sometimes forgetting is healthier than remembering. This maxim could well be applied to the case of a supposed anti-Castro organization that upset the social networks in the first days of January of this year with its coming out appearance using a controversial method … Continue reading “Clandestinos: a Scandalous Silence”

Cubans Prohibited From Lining Up at Stores at Night

14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 28 August 2020 — Long before the pandemic began, even before the “economic situation” was announced last September, the verbs mark (your place in line), wake up early and wait have been the most conjugated in Cuba. The lines that have accompanied our lives for decades have increased in size and gained prominence in the streets of … Continue reading “Cubans Prohibited From Lining Up at Stores at Night”