14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 10 March 2022 — “The bikes arrived and Armageddon set in,” says Maria. The shouting on San Nicolás street, in Central Havana, called the attention of passers-by who, despite being accustomed to long lines and fights forming when the Mundo de la Fantasia [Fantasy World] toy store displayed merchandise, today stopped in surprise to see what the reason was for such exaggerated pandemonium.
The bicycles, a bright pink sprinkled with little flowers, were not entirely cheap. But the price, 3,439 pesos, was attractive enough for the resellers, eager to get a good profit in dollars on the online site Revolico, to compete with the fathers and mothers who milled around the store trying to get a hold of the product.
To get one of these toys, it is essential to show the card that proves the buyer has children, an obstacle that the resellers manage to overcome, sometimes with a real document, others with a borrowed one and others with the complicity of the seller.
The lines are constant in Mundo de la Fantasia, formerly La Casa Pérez, every time that, “from time to time” this store, located on Neptuno street, receives merchandise to sell. However, this Thursday the Police even had to approach the area when they saw the organized scandal, although, as soon as they left the area, chaos returned.
María laughs between amused and resigned. “Because of the messes that are formed, and today more than ever, in ’Fantasy World’ there is nothing. This store should be called ’Terror World’.”
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