The rebellion of the empty platforms has arrived in Sancti Spíritus. The main agricultural market in this city, in central Cuba, has lost most of its vendors in recent weeks. The merchants refuse to accept the controlled of marketing imposed by the authorities and have abandoned their posts in the Plaza del Mercado, on the central boulevard.
In the premises, with high ceilings and wide sales spaces, now there are only a couple of merchants left, mainly dedicated to the sale of dry spices. Where before everything was bustle and customers entered constantly, now only the echo of the few voices of the merchants who remained in the place this Thursday, bored by the low influx, can be heard.
“Not like that. Under these conditions I don’t go, I prefer to sell my merchandise abroad even if I have to do more work,” he tells 14ymedio Lázaro, a fruit and vegetable merchant who until recently was proud to have been in the Plaza for more than ten years. “I prefer my merchandise to rot at home,” he says. “In the end they are going to have to give in because what they have caused is more discomfort in the population that now arrives and sees everything bare.”
The mandatory maximum prices have been extended to several Cuban provinces in recent weeks and, according to current regulations, each Municipal Administration Council dictates those that will govern its territory. In the case of the city of Sancti Spíritus, the new amounts began to be applied on June 12.
“Not like this. Under these conditions I don’t go, I prefer to sell my merchandise abroad even if I have to do more work”
In the list, rice was set at 72 pesos per pound when it has already exceeded the barrier of 200 in the informal market and in other provinces where the new prices have not yet been established. For cassava, plantains and squash, traders cannot ask for more than 15 pesos per pound, while onions are regulated at a maximum of 250 pesos per leg of 20 units.
Cornmeal, a traditional substitute for rice, is capped at 50 pesos per pound, lettuce and carrots at 25, and mangos, in the middle of the abundant harvest season, are regulated at 6 pesos per pound. Malanga, frequently used for food for the elderly and babies, must now cost less than 40 pesos per pound and each head of garlic cannot cost the customer more than 12 pesos.
As soon as the measure entered into force, the authorities from Sancti Spiritus reinforced the presence of the inspectorate of the Comprehensive Supervision Directorate (DIS) in the province, with offices in each municipality. Only in the first week of June, 80 fines were imposed for price changes, with an amount exceeding 263,500 pesos, according to the diary Escambray.
The fines imposed on those who do not abide by the list range from 8,000 to 10,000 pesos and the penalty includes the forced sale of the product at the established price or its total confiscation.
“It was coming to work and looking for trouble,” admits Lázaro. “They gave me two fines in less than a week. When I got the accounts, I had lost more moving the merchandise to the market after paying it to the producer than what I earned selling it. I no longer went and like me several of those who I know had been in the Square”.
“This market is the life of the entire neighborhood, only those who sold on the stands are not affected here”
Another young occasional employee of the Plaza considers that the prices established by the Municipal Administration Council are “obsolete” and do not correspond to inflation, the devaluation of the Cuban peso and the drop in productivity due to the floods at the beginning of this year. month that the cost of food was skyrocketing. In his opinion, with this measure “it rains it pours because they had already applied something like this in previous years and it did not work, prices continued to rise.”
“This market is the life of the entire neighborhood, here not only those who sold on the stands are affected. I myself found my little pesos hauling merchandise, cleaning the stalls after the market closed and even helping with other tasks”; the young man explains to this newspaper. “With this dead we all lose, no one wins.” However, he is optimistic and believes that the battle will be won by the merchants.
At the moment, the claims of the vendors and their strike for empty pallets do not seem to have ruffled an eyebrow to the authorities, who remain at their guns, or rather, at their capped prices.
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