Beneath the dilapidated balconies of Dragones street, in Havana, dozens of travelers try to negotiate with the drivers. Since the entry into effect, this Friday, of the new prices for private transport, a discreet protest has begun: stuck in the entrance, before the nervous gaze of the inspectors, the vehicles refuse to leave.
Until now, 150 pesos were paid for the stretch from Parque de la Fraternidad to Guanabacoa, about 18 kilometers. However, the General Directorate of Provincial Transportation imposed a reduction in rates that, in the midst of a panorama of shortages and inflation, the self-employed took it as an affront.
“They don’t want to go out,” says one of the passengers who returns to the gate, frustrated. “Until now, they charged 150 pesos to go from here to La Cuevita, but that’s relative: sometimes you had to pay 200 pesos if you wanted to move,” says another traveler.
Dressed in warm blue, the inspectors attend the scene. There is very little they can do. The new prices were stipulated “from above” and they – on whom the angry glances of those who wait fall – have neither the authority nor the means to negotiate a viable solution to the conflict.
Among the drivers there is one who knows one of the inspectors and has been waving to him for a few minutes. “Get out of the car, please,” answers the official, who does not want to be seen parleying with the discreet rebels. They exchange a couple of phrases, but the tension is such that the driver invites his acquaintance to “have a drink” to get out of the others’ field of vision.
“Look,” the inspector contravenes, “better another day. See you.” And he vanishes in the group of uniformed men.
As noon approaches and the line is still standing, the atmosphere begins to heat up. Most of them calculate if the number of kilometers to travel is proportional to the meager breakfast taken –if there was any–. The solution, get going.
Dizzying, some young people on skateboards cut through the crowd and get lost down the street. Between despair and heat, someone mocks: “At least they are not controlled by Transportation.”
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