Havana Cuba. – At least two Cuban pedicab drivers were fined during a raid carried out this Monday by police and inspectors in the Havana municipality of Old Havana, as reported in Interview with CubaNet those affected themselves.
“We were just talking on a corner when the inspectors come with the Police and they give us a fine because they say that we cannot be on the corner, and that since we do not reside in the municipality we cannot work in this area,” said Antonio Font Carreño, one of the fined
The self-employed, interviewed by CubaNetdescribed the measure as “arbitrary”.
“If a person rents me in Centro Habana [su municipio de residencia] to take her to Old Havana, what do I tell her? That I can’t because I’m punished by the government?” Font Carreño wonders. “That is absurd because I pay a license to work, not so that they are prohibiting me from anything,” she added.
In his case, the amount of the fine was 500 pesos. However, he assures that they have sanctioned him on countless occasions.
“They even fined me for saying hello. That doesn’t happen anywhere, that just happens in Cuba because it makes life impossible for the self-employed who, although it may not seem like it, also help the people at a time when transportation is lousy due to the lack of fuel and so on,” he said.
Meanwhile, Francisco Díaz Vidal denounced that his fine amounted to 1,500 pesos. “This is an arbitrary fine, with an exorbitant amount for working in another municipality, but in my own Cuba, in my own country, something unimaginable, really.”
The document that authorizes both self-employed workers to carry out the work of pedicab driver indicates that they can provide service only in the municipality where the license for the activity was issued.
Despite their important role, private carriers face an almost daily battle against police and inspectors, who maintain a constant siege against them, the two interviewees say.
