Victoria Burnett
November 7, 2011
Take Control of Your Super Special Offer Ends Soon. Apply Now!
Motorists pass a broken-down car on a street in Havana
Kicking the ties … Cuba is a museum-on-wheels of old-model American and
Soviet cars, but now the people can buy and sell used vehicles freely.
Photo: Jose Goitia/The New York Times
HAVANA: Until a few weeks ago, Erik Gonzalez's decrepit car did little
more than devour his tiny income. He spent hundreds of dollars fixing
the car, a 30-year-old Moskvich that his grandfather passed down to him
in 2000. Even when it worked, Mr Gonzalez could rarely afford to buy petrol.
Then, overnight, the rattletrap became his nest egg.
Mr Gonzalez put the Soviet-brand car up for sale last month when the
government published rules allowing Cubans to buy and sell used vehicles
freely for the first time in half a century.
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The carburettor shot, the battery on its last legs and the headlights
inoperable, but he believes his blue Moskvich will fetch at least
$US5500, a small killing for a waiter whose salary - before tips and
extras - is just $US15 a month.
Like the new law permitting home sales, which comes into effect this
week, the changes headline efforts by the President, Raul Castro, to
remodel Cuba's hobbled economy and spur the private sector.
After decades in which ownership of such big-ticket items was frozen,
the efforts promise to flush money into the market at a time when
officials are trying to stimulate private enterprise and move hundreds
of thousands of workers off the public payroll.
Like several of Mr Castro's changes, the new law created a pocket of
economic liberty in a market that remains tightly controlled. Cubans can
purchase and own more than one used vehicle, and they will no longer
lose their car if they emigrate.
Emilio Morales, president of Miami's Havana Consulting Group, said the
new rules - like earlier decisions to let Cubans own mobile phones and
computers and work in the private sector - simply legalised what many of
them were already doing illicitly and would neither increase Cuba's
antiquated stock of vehicles nor alleviate the country's crushing
transport problem. The move was intended to placate people, not
stimulate the economy, Mr Morales said.
''This is one of their political pressure valves,'' he said.
He would spend the proceeds on building a new kitchen and fixing his
house in a gritty Havana suburb, and then put some of the money aside
for a restaurant he hoped to open with a group of friends.
''If the restaurant is successful, maybe in two or three years I could
buy myself a new car,'' he said. ''Just not a Moskvich.''
The New York Times
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