Revolutionary ‘Justice’

Revolutionary 'Justice' / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez

14ymedio, Generation Y, Yoani Sanchez, 28 February 2018 — The distance
between the Havana Capitol and the Ciudad Deportiva (Sport City) remains
the same and yet it seems to have changed. With the capped prices
imposed by local government on the private taxi routes, this journey has
become immense and difficult to complete. Where before a person needed
to wait between 5 and 15 minutes, now they have to wait up to an hour to
climb into an almendrón*.

At this point, those who were rubbing their hands at the reduced prices
for private transport, must have realized that the hand of the state has
broken a fragile network ruled by supply and demand. The taxi drivers
cut their trips in a sign of protest, and many are staying home weighing
whether it is worth spending so many hours behind the steering wheel for
ever smaller profits.

The victims of these reductions are all of us. One of the new rich who
manages a restaurant, the doctor who needs to get to the hospital, the
old man who has a medical appointment, or the student who is counting
his centavos to make it to the end of the month. It has not been a blow
to the social class that can pay between 10 and 20 Cuban pesos for a
trip, but a blow to all those who on some occasion, even if only
sporadically, use this type of transportation.

Official propaganda is now unleashed against the workers of the private
sector, but it is silent before the exploitive state that pays for such
misery

Like many restrictive measures of this "Revolutionary" process, it has
also surrounded itself with a whiff of false justice, with an aura of
supposed egalitarianism. Official propaganda is now unleashed against
private sector workers who charge half a day's wages for a trip, but it
is silent before the exploitive state that pays for such misery.

The television reports approach the passengers to capture the moment
when they say, "that was an abuse that could not continue," or, "now
prices are more in line with our pockets." But they are silent about
those shelves in the state stores where a liter of oil cost two days'
pay and two pounds of chicken can mean a week's hard work.

Will prices also rise in those markets? Will the Havana Administrative
Council unleash itself against the retail network where a father has to
pay two week's wages for a pair of shoes for his son? The Revolutionary
"justice" is one-eyed in these cases, only looking in the direction that
suits it.

*Translator's note: "Almendrón" means "almond" and refers to the shape
of the classic American cars often used in shared, fixed-route taxi service.

Source: Revolutionary 'Justice' / 14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez – Translating
Cuba - https://translatingcuba.com/revolutionary-justice/