What a block, folks!
By Aurelio Pedroso
HAVANA – If anyone in Cuba with street smarts and ingenuity would set up a row of chairs along the well-known Salvador Allende Avenue (the former Charles III Avenue) so that serious international analysts and some local observers might sit and watch the passing scene, their perception of the island’s immediate future would be less hazy.
I would suggest placing the chairs between the streets Retiro and Plasencia, in the Centro Habana municipality, where one can easily appreciate the revival of the commercial vibrancy that this capital city enjoyed long ago.
From one corner to the other, under the arcade, in fewer than 100 yards, you can find a place devoted to the sale of "religious articles" that also serves as a mini-general store where you can find piñatas or other supplies for a children’s party. Party or santería, take your pick. Copying from the Chinese, the owners have a big-character poster advertising "How cheap it is!"
A few steps away, a booth sells a variety of clothes for teens that includes the latest fashion, a pair of sneakers bearing the British Union Jack, or ladies’ underwear with the same design, as if the phlegmatic Brits could teach us Latinos anything about amorous activities.
Leaning on a column, a young man shows us a handmade catalog with photographs of home furniture that he can provide. Nearby, a man has parked a cart with a great variety of fruits and vegetables, worthy of being videoed or photographed.
f your watch is not keeping time accurately, you can find someone who can try to fix it with the thousand and one tricks that Cubans have learned under the pressure of limitations and need. One classic trick was turning a grapefruit rind as if by magic into a sirloin steak.
Because the weather is hot, you walk up to the ice cream maker, who offers a wide variety of flavors. If, as you buy a cone, you display a gold ring or a gold chain, a jeweler nearby will let you know that he buys the precious metal.
Leaning against another column in typical Cuban style is an elderly lady who sells multicolored hand towels and a collection of good-luck charms that a lot of locals could use.
Problems with your Yale lock? An imitator of Harry Houdini will fix it or provide you with a copy of your house key.
If your cell phone is more abused than used, two young "engineers" at the same corner will fix it, or buy it, or sell you a new one.
Next to them, a shoe vendor invites you to stop and check his varied stock of many styles.
None of these stands or stores is state-run. On the contrary, they are run by private individuals and the prices are guided by supply and demand. Haggling is permitted. A landscape that is hard to believe, if we compare it with Havana a few years ago.
Along Charles III Avenue, between Retiro and Plasencia, you’ll see car minders, distinguished by their red caps and vests that advertise their trade and Havana Club rum.
I chat with one of them, who speaks in a combination of broken sentences, single words, interjections, hand signals and grimaces. He makes me understand that, even though people complain about the shortage of money, he sees many of them shopping.
"And if you walk into Charles III Plaza [a shopping center owned by the state corporation Cimex] you’ll also see how much the people buy," he says. "Truth is, I don’t understand that."
Our peculiar dialogue is interrupted by the silent arrival of police car No. 348. The car minder stops talking and winks at me. "It’s the bike-taxis. The police is checking the papers of the bike-taxi drivers because many don’t have licenses."
It’s a reminder that, not long ago, the police would play hard ball with street vendors, seize their merchandise, fine them, take them to the station house and jail them. At present, all the police do is to check the licenses of bike-taxi drivers, modern-day Centaurs who pedal tricycles built for passenger use. Many of them haven’t the slightest idea of the transit rules.
"What can I tell you," says the car minder, keeping an eye on the parked vehicles he’s supposed to watch. "Walk up a bit farther and you’ll find a plumber. If you’re looking for a bulletproof vest, you’ll find one for sale. Someday, they’ll be selling coffins made with quality wood."
So we Cubans march on, not turning back, with an entrepreneurship that can be ascertained by any analyst who cares to observe and meditate. And it is said that in 2013 and 2014 the big measures will be instituted.
Progreso Semanal/ Weekly authorizes the total or partial reproduction of the articles by our journalists so long as source and author are identified.
