The order to combat Cuba’s largest black market was given by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero.
14ymedio, Miguel García, Holguin, April 7, 2025 — Unlike Atrévete-te-te, that famous song [see also] that celebrated informality to the rhythm of cumbia and reggaeton and that got so many people dancing 20 years ago, the “street fighters” of Calle 13″ in the Holguín neighborhood of Sanfeld live in permanent fear of an offensive against them by the local authorities.
“The only people left on Calle 13 are those who have licenses,” Armando tells 14ymedio, after the police operation on March 25 closed access to the popular market. “Behind Las Baleares, where many had set up stalls, it has slowed down somewhat. You can walk there now, but today I went by and saw an influx of people and stalls. There are people with tables and products, watching out for inspectors. The legal sellers were moved to areas near the parking lot of Estadio Calixto García, but they were joined by the illegal ones.”
A week ago, March 24 to 29, the Second National Exercise in Preventing and Combating Crime was completed. Not only did the usual inspectors take part in that operation but also teams of the Communist Party of Cuba, the Union of Young Communists, the Ministry of the Interior, officials of the provincial government, auditors, mass organizations, jurists, the National Association of Economists and even fifth-year students in accounting. The contradiction is that, in their daily realities, many of them are forced to walk down Calle 13 to buy a deodorant or a bottle of cooking oil. They did so before the “exercise” and will continue to do so.
Police stationed on the corners closed off market access last Tuesday and began a thorough inspection of every stall
Police stationed on the corners closed off market access last Tuesday and began a thorough inspection of every stall. In addition to the suspension of sales that day, the uniformed officers, accompanied by a large group of inspectors, “confiscated goods, imposed fines and collected more than one,” says a local newspaper. During the next 48 hours, sellers pretended to respect the prices of some products, but gradually the widespread deception returned to its untamable normality.
The combat order comes from above. Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz defined the “prevention and reduction of crime, corruption, illegalities and social indiscipline” as the eighth priority goal for 2025. Considering that these were the same goals for 2024 and that they were not met, they have decided to repeat them and redouble their efforts. Díaz-Canel even proposes “public trials, to create a legal awareness in the population.”
Colonel Derbis Camejo, second head of the Ministry of Interior in the eastern province, said at the summary meeting of the exercise that the focus was also on Calle 8 of the Sanfield neighborhood and around the bus terminal of Las Baleares. The offensive included fines and confiscations, although they only mention that they have succeeded in increasing the number of complaints, without being accompanied by an equal level of clarification.
As long as the formal market is unable to meet consumer demands, the informal market will flourish
For his part, Joel Queipo Ruiz, first secretary of the Communist Party in Holguín, claims a “decrease in crime in most types of priority attention compared to the previous year, carried out in December,” but he does not provide any data to support his claim. Queipo insists on earning merit as a continuator of the “Operation Rastrillo” promoted by Díaz-Canel when he held office in the province.
The oldest residents of Holguín will remember that famous Calle Rio, where you could buy “even a helicopter.” But now it is Calle 13 that has become famous beyond its natural Holguin clientele. Some youtubers have published images calling it “the biggest black market in Cuba.” One of the videos uploaded to the networks has 72,000 views and almost 300 comments from the Dominican Republic, Chile and El Salvador.
Armando comments that the star product is cooking oil. “A few days ago it started to run out terribly. The little bit they sold in the MSMEs, 900 milliliters, people took away in boxes. One man took 100 boxes of twelve bottles each, or 1,200 bottles of oil. When he arrived home there was a line waiting, and he sold out on the same day. A liter of oil in the street is between 1,500 and 1,600 pesos.”
Whatever Marrero Cruz and Díaz-Canel say, the business has very old rules. As long as the formal market is unable to meet consumer demands, the informal market will flourish. The onslaught on Calle 13 will only spread the overflow to other streets. The street vendors and irregulars “shake off sweat as if they were windshield wipers,” move from doorways, expand, stay “alive” in case they see an inspector disguised as a customer approaching and shout “water” before the unexpected visit of some police. When other street fighters conquer a new street, the rumor spreads through the city, and the tables, cots and vendors’ cries of practically everything imaginable begin to multiply.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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