On November 1st, a law banning the self-employed in Cuba from selling imported products goes was anticpated to go into effect. The hope that the government would repeal the measure vanished into thin air. The measure is expected to affect approximately 20,000 small businesses.
On November 2nd, the Cuban government issued a notice, "confirming the illegality of imported retail goods," and of the resale of goods bought through government run stores. According to Granma, requests have been made to allow for the liquidation of inventories. The goverment has therefore set the deadline for December 31.
In early October, Raul Castro 's government decreed a ban on the sale of clothing, footwear and other items brought into Cuba by those who travel abroad, claiming that there is no commercial license for such activity.
"I wonder if it would be easier to approve the selling of imported clothes than to force this activity into the black market," wrote "Yohandry" on his Twitter feed. Dissidents believe that “Yohandry” is a pseudonym attributed to Cuban intelligence.
Marta Elena Feito, First Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Security in Cuba, affirmed that the sale of these products will be a violation of the law. An advisor from the same office, José Barreiro warned that “the measure became effective for immediate implementation,” as described in Cuba’s self-employment regulations and in the Penal Code.
Despite protests and proposals made by merchants in some major cities, the measure has not changed, although its "immediate implementation" was postponed several weeks. The law became effective yesterday, November 1st, prohibiting the sale of clothing, footwear, textiles and useful household items purchased abroad. As of December 8th, it was announced that jewelry products will meet the same fate.
The official press has supported the move in numerous articles, justifying the ban and claiming that many of these products have resulted in corruption and hoarding. The most novel of those articles, published Thursday on the official site CubaSi, ensures that young Cubans today do not dress appropriately for various occasions as a result of the proliferation of sportswear in small private markets.
However Gladys Egües, a fashion expert serving on the editorial board for magazines published on the island, has a different view .
“In the 70’s and 80’s, about half a million designer articles of clothing were made per year. Now, the Union of Textile Garments in Cuba produces 50,000 pieces, of which only seven percent is clothing that is sold in the foreign exchange stores and the rest are uniforms.”
To ensure that merchants are informed of the measures, local governments have employed various methods.
In the city of Camagüey, the journalist Alejandro Rodriguez Rodriguez wrote on his personal blog Alejo 3399, that someone “had the bright idea of summoning tailors, dressmakers and merchants to have the paragraph of the resolution that applied to them individually read to their faces. Then they had to sign a paper as proof that they had been informed of the new decrees. And people were asking themselves: 'Are we in kindergarten or playing Monopoly or what?'.”
"When it comes to demanding compliance, reading the law to people can only be done in a coercive tone. It’s a reflection that even the authorities themselves doubt the legitimacy of what is being read. Many Cubans would like someone to come up with a similar idea regarding our constitutional rights," concluded Rodriguez.
On November 2nd, the Cuban government issued a notice, "confirming the illegality of imported retail goods," and of the resale of goods bought through government run stores. According to Granma, requests have been made to allow for the liquidation of inventories. The goverment has therefore set the deadline for December 31.
In early October, Raul Castro 's government decreed a ban on the sale of clothing, footwear and other items brought into Cuba by those who travel abroad, claiming that there is no commercial license for such activity.
"I wonder if it would be easier to approve the selling of imported clothes than to force this activity into the black market," wrote "Yohandry" on his Twitter feed. Dissidents believe that “Yohandry” is a pseudonym attributed to Cuban intelligence.
Marta Elena Feito, First Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Security in Cuba, affirmed that the sale of these products will be a violation of the law. An advisor from the same office, José Barreiro warned that “the measure became effective for immediate implementation,” as described in Cuba’s self-employment regulations and in the Penal Code.
Despite protests and proposals made by merchants in some major cities, the measure has not changed, although its "immediate implementation" was postponed several weeks. The law became effective yesterday, November 1st, prohibiting the sale of clothing, footwear, textiles and useful household items purchased abroad. As of December 8th, it was announced that jewelry products will meet the same fate.
The official press has supported the move in numerous articles, justifying the ban and claiming that many of these products have resulted in corruption and hoarding. The most novel of those articles, published Thursday on the official site CubaSi, ensures that young Cubans today do not dress appropriately for various occasions as a result of the proliferation of sportswear in small private markets.
However Gladys Egües, a fashion expert serving on the editorial board for magazines published on the island, has a different view .
“In the 70’s and 80’s, about half a million designer articles of clothing were made per year. Now, the Union of Textile Garments in Cuba produces 50,000 pieces, of which only seven percent is clothing that is sold in the foreign exchange stores and the rest are uniforms.”
To ensure that merchants are informed of the measures, local governments have employed various methods.
In the city of Camagüey, the journalist Alejandro Rodriguez Rodriguez wrote on his personal blog Alejo 3399, that someone “had the bright idea of summoning tailors, dressmakers and merchants to have the paragraph of the resolution that applied to them individually read to their faces. Then they had to sign a paper as proof that they had been informed of the new decrees. And people were asking themselves: 'Are we in kindergarten or playing Monopoly or what?'.”
"When it comes to demanding compliance, reading the law to people can only be done in a coercive tone. It’s a reflection that even the authorities themselves doubt the legitimacy of what is being read. Many Cubans would like someone to come up with a similar idea regarding our constitutional rights," concluded Rodriguez.
