Search results for: mules

Cuba Declares War On Costume Jewelry Vendors / 14ymedio, Pedro Campos

14ymedio, Pedro Campos, Havana, 2 March 2016 — State inspectors supported by groups of police launched an offensive against merolicos – hucksters – who, in different parts of Havana, sell a large array of widely used items missing in the military’s monopoly of hard currency stores formally known as “Hard Currency Collection Stores” (TRDs). The goods sold … Continue reading “Cuba Declares War On Costume Jewelry Vendors / 14ymedio, Pedro Campos”

Social Status is in the Cake / 14ymedio, Lilianne Ruiz

14ymedio, Lilianne Ruiz, Havana, 23 January 2016 — A cake in the shape of a camera, figures of the newlyweds modeled in sugar, or the Real Madrid team emblem are some of the offerings of a private company that arranges weddings and birthday parties. The company enjoys a growing number of customers in a society … Continue reading “Social Status is in the Cake / 14ymedio, Lilianne Ruiz”

The Dollar Gains Strength in Cuba / Ivan Garcia

Ivan Garcia, 4 January 2016 — José Manual Cordoví keeps his savings in a rusty cookie tin. He runs a business forging windows, doors and iron in a suburb of low hovels in Arroyo Naranjo, a municipality 40 minutes by car from the heart of Havana. Cordoví has no relatives or friends who are close … Continue reading “The Dollar Gains Strength in Cuba / Ivan Garcia”

Alarm Bells on the Route of the Illegal Market / 14ymedio, Orlando Palma

14ymedio, Orlando Palma, Havana, 27 November 2015 – Children’s clothes and sneakers were a part of the goods being called out by an illegal vendor this Thursday on Galiano Street in Havana. Although it is just four days until the migratory restrictions on Cubans announced by Ecuador take effect, alarm has already spread among merchants and … Continue reading “Alarm Bells on the Route of the Illegal Market / 14ymedio, Orlando Palma”

A Hustler Close To Me / Fernando Damaso

Fernando Damaso, 29 August 2015 — In my distant childhood in the El Moro neighborhood of Mantilla, currently a part of the Arroyo Naranjo municipality, I had the good fortune to know and live with a character that left deep traces on me. Manolo “The Pole,” as everyone called him, was the son of Syrians … Continue reading “A Hustler Close To Me / Fernando Damaso”

“The Revolutionary Offensive” Has Returned / Cubanet, Miriam Celaya

Cubanet, Miriam Celaya, Havana, 11 June 2015 – There is no doubt that we are witnessing a new “Revolutionary Offensive*” in Cuba. This time, it is not that cumbersome operation that wiped out the small private property and, in 1968, gave the coup de grace to whatever mom and pop businesses, stands or cafes barely … Continue reading ““The Revolutionary Offensive” Has Returned / Cubanet, Miriam Celaya”

Rosa Maria Returns to the Revolution of Death / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

ROSA MARIA AND DEATH Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, 11 May 2015 Since she was a little girl, death was a guest in her home. A guest no one invited in the midst of the family happiness, rather an intruder imposed by a fascist State called Revolution. A totalitarian state that began killing before the assault on … Continue reading “Rosa Maria Returns to the Revolution of Death / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”

Why Does Cuba Choke Charter Agencies And Deliveries to The Island? / Juan Juan Almeida

(April 2104) In Cuba, smoke doesn’t always mean fire. Often it is a stragegy to confuse. This time the smoke comes to us from the Republic’s Customs Office, when last week, on its official website, it published an “updated” list of the entities authorized to make shipments to Cuba.

Drug Consumption Increases in Cuba / 14ymedio, ORLANDO PALMA

14ymedio, Orlando Palma, Havana, 8 January 2015 – The seizure in 2014 of close to 40 tons of drugs in Cuban ports and airports belies the old official line that for decades presented narco-trafficking as a foreign phenomenon, a characteristic of the “corrupt capitalist world.” The official press boasted that the Island was not used … Continue reading “Drug Consumption Increases in Cuba / 14ymedio, ORLANDO PALMA”

Shadow Market / 14ymedio, Lilianne Ruiz

Street vendors are the last card in a clandestine business deck whose purpose is pure survival. 14ymedio, LILIANNE RUIZ, Havana, 20 November 2014 — In the shadow of the doorways on Galleno Street in Havana, a young man shows several pairs of sunglasses that he has encased in a piece of polystyrene foam, popularly known … Continue reading “Shadow Market / 14ymedio, Lilianne Ruiz”

New Customs Restrictions in Havana: Another Turn of The Screw / Jeovany Jimenez Vega

By Jeovany Jimenez Vega I avert my gaze with disgust from the broadsheet of troubling portents that the newspaper Granma has become. Recently, the newspaper published new customs regulations the Cuban government has imposed on its own people. In essence, they amount to a significant reduction — now significantly less than 120 kg — in the weight of … Continue reading “New Customs Restrictions in Havana: Another Turn of The Screw / Jeovany Jimenez Vega”

Alert Sounded in the Informal Market / 14ymedio, Rosa Lopez

Unauthorized vendors welcome new customs regulation with caution as they prepare to redefine strategies 14ymedio, Rosa Lopez, Havana, 3 September 2014 — “Call me from a land line” instructs the classified ad placed by Mauro Izquierdo, vendor of electrical household appliances. He has a wide range of items on offer, from air conditioning units to … Continue reading “Alert Sounded in the Informal Market / 14ymedio, Rosa Lopez”

New Measures by Cuban Customs Service Coming in September / Ivan Garcia

On September 1, 2014 the Customs Service of the Republic of Cuba will begin enforcing new regulations intended to combat illegal trafficking of merchandise by relatives, friends and “mules”* through airports and port facilities. It’s one more turn of the screw. Every year since 2011 new regulations have been put in place designed to halt … Continue reading “New Measures by Cuban Customs Service Coming in September / Ivan Garcia”

A Turn of the Screw Against the Informal Market / 14ymedio

14ymedio, Havana, 30 May 2014 – A regulation of the General Customs of the Republic, published last Wednesday, has sellers of imported products and other private traders on edge. The official document includes new restrictions on travelers carrying goods to Cuba. The measure adds to an escalation against the private market that hit a low … Continue reading “A Turn of the Screw Against the Informal Market / 14ymedio”

From Teddies to Flat Screens / Yoani Sanchez

Once there were stuffed animals. Bears or dogs with enormous ears as the doors of the Havana airport opened, arriving on the suitcases of the recently arrived. Dolls that parents, after a trip to the socialist camp, brought home as trophies to the kids they’d left behind. Status symbols for those who could leave the … Continue reading “From Teddies to Flat Screens / Yoani Sanchez”