The sale of medicines and the purchase of foreign currency, all informal, happen in plain sight of the police and despite their operations
By Juan Diego Rodriguez (14ymedio)
HAVANA TIMES – The market known as La Cuevita, in San Miguel del Padrón, on the outskirts of Havana, is not larger than the one that extends under the bridge at 100 y Boyeros in the capital, but it has a greater impact. “The space for the self-employed stalls is small, but it’s the immense informal sales around them where most buyers go,” says Nelly, who accompanies 14ymedio on their visit to La Cuevita this Friday.
Nelly lives in Ciego de Ávila but comes every month. Before, she used to work as a “mule” going back and forth to Haiti, but with the upsurge of violence in that country, she has switched to the markets in Havana. She’s not alone. “We all come with suitcases and then we go back to our provinces to sell the things there.”
“It’s like arriving at the bus terminal, really,” says Raniel, who has come to La Cuevita to buy medicines. In the legally established self-employed premises, there is costume jewelry, watches, clothes, caps, or eyeglasses, but it’s the informal vendors who display an infinite arsenal of all kinds of items. Among them, medications stand out especially.
“They arrive and spread out a box full of medicines in an aisle and they stand there selling them,” explains Raniel, who prefers to buy at La Cuevita than on online sales pages, where they are more expensive. It’s easy to observe that most of them are imported, brought in by mules, but quite a few are Cuban-made, which indicates that they come from the state market. “Cuban enalapril sells here for 250 pesos per blister, and o
