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"Mototaxistas" make claims in front of party headquarters in Santiago de Cuba


Motorcyclists wanted to meet with the Secretary of the Communist Party in the province, Lazaro Exposito, to express their dissatisfaction with the projected cost of patents, operating licenses and taxes. The leader finally met with them.

With motorcycle lights on and honking horns, more than 100 "mototaxistas" demonstrated outside the headquarters of the Provincial Delegation of the Communist Party in Santiago de Cuba on Tuesday, to demand the presence of the First Secretary and express their dissatisfaction with the proposed cost of patents, operating licenses and taxes, reported journalist Walter Clavel from the independent agency Prensa Libre Oriental.

Clavel explained to martinoticias.com that due to the steep topography of the city and the problems with public transport, mototaxistas have become a key alternative to transportation in Santiago.
But to work legally, these private taxi drivers, who are usually informal, must pay 750 pesos a month between patent and operating licenses, plus an annual high tax. The average wage in Cuba at the end of 2012 was 466 pesos per month.
Clavel considers the rates abusive, because it it doesn't take into account other business expenditure: "fuel [prices]," he says in his note for the APLO, "both in state institutions and in the black market are soaring. Often, parts have to be bought from people who bring them from abroad. Repairs are costly and frequent because of the poor state of the roads."

One of the participants in the protest, Pedro Montane, told martinoticias.com that the First Secretary of the PCC in the province, Lazaro Exposito, had agreed to meet at 4:00 pm with guild members in the Heredia Theatre, but he never showed. Those who were waiting then moved their cycles to the Provincial Delegation of the organization.

In no time, the political police and the National Revolutionary Police were urging them to leave, claiming that Exposito was in a meeting and could not attend to them. Protesters persisted and finally the partisan officer came out and told them to wait in the Heredia Theatre, where he later presented himself.
Montane, who was one of those who took the floor, told Exposito about his and his colleagues dissatisfaction with the high monthly fees, which is 250 pesos for the patent and 500 pesos for the operating license, plus an annual tax.
"I said I did not agree with the patent that they would impose on us. But I do agree that they give us legal standing and that we should p[ay about 100 pesos a month, because they don't give us parts, gas, tires--they give us nothing. I have on my bike a refurbished tire, which is lousy and slides down anything, and I have to buy a new one because I can not put the security of the passengers at risk."
According to Montane, Exposito promised to review the case, Moreover, the communist leader promised that in the first 10 days of January, he would meet with them again.

"Yes he met with us, but if we had not done this, we would not have had a chance to talk to him," Clavel said.
Clavel adds that, "it is not the first time a group of people demonstrating about social situations are presented to the Provincial Party."
"However, this case is different...it is more complicated, because this involves structural changes that regulate the taxes required."
"What's interesting," Clavel concludes, "is that more and more people (...) are inclined to capitalize on social concerns and turn them into political demands."

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    Rolando Cartaya

    Rolando Cartaya graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of Havana in 1976. He has been a contributor to the cultural page of Juventud Rebelde, the newspaper of Cuban youth and UPI. He has also served as editor in the Spanish language versions of  "Newsweek," "Discover" and "Motor Trend." He has translated more than 20 books for Christian publisher, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Rolando has been with The Martís since 1989, in various capacities including editor, writer, reporter, and writer-director of the show, Sin Censores ni Censura, translated as, "No Censors or Censorship". On the island, he was vice president of the Cuban Committee for Human Rights.
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