Farmers Market, 11:00 AM / Regina Coyula

Farmers Market, 11:00 AM / Regina Coyula
Regina Coyula, Translator: Unstated

Among the characteristics that define me as a bad housewife is not
knowing how to purchase fresh produce, which, I assure you it is a vital
skill because the farmers markets not only sell products that would not
pass a health or quality control inspection, but in the majority of
cases these controls are only on paper, and you have to be experienced
to get good products.

But since he had to go get my medications at the pharmacy and the
pharmacy faces the farmers market, my husband, with many explanations,
tasked me to buy beans, cucumbers and a bunch of green bananas.

It had been months since I'd been to a farmers market and my first
impression was that they were dismantling it. Of eight stands, only two
were open and they were offering undersized purple onions at six pesos,
(cheap compared to the four pesos for a pound of cucumbers or the green
beans at six). On the floor in there plastic where they display the
merchandise, there was a stalk of bananas that no one would buy. So what
happened here, I asked one of the stall keepers. The rains was his
laconic reply.

Just a hundred yards away at the door of the bakery, were two
construction trucks with tomatoes, peppers, cabbage and beans. All
clean, fresh and packaged. Two entrepreneurs to whom the rain was not an
obstacle. These days it has rained, but it rained as it can rain at any
tropical country. We haven't faced a cyclone and the rains haven't been
torrential. Nothing logical can explain the lack of merchandise at the
farmers markets and the variety available on the trucks. Ok, yes, but
the explanation defies logic.

October 28 2011

http://translatingcuba.com/?p=12382

The Housing Problem: the System’s Autotrophic Phase / Miriam Celaya

The Housing Problem: the System's Autotrophic Phase / Miriam Celaya
Miriam Celaya, Translator: Norma Whiting

Those of us Habaneros who were already adults in the 90′s witnessed the
dismantling of the so-called "hostels" or INIT shelters, which — for the
younger readers — were something like the tropical version of a cheap
motel in which, for a small fee, couples who had no other adequate space
rented a room for a few hours to have sexual relations. As a "solution"
for the impossible task of sustaining the housing construction
micro-brigades in the midst of the crisis known as "the special period
in peacetime", those hostels were fully adapted to housing and
distributed as tiny apartments to families that did not have a place to
live.

As a consequence, far from solving the general problem of housing, given
that there were never enough hostels to provide homes to so many who
needed them, they created another problem: couples without private
spaces were stripped of their seedy but single possibility of having sex
behind closed doors, without emptying their pockets. There has been
little discussion of this, but since they closed the inns, sex was
another item that became significantly more expensive and even became
part of public spectacles in parks, dark corners, and stairways of
familiar buildings.

But such dispossession was not something that concerned government
officials. After all, this only hurt the poorest and, besides, no one
would even think of bringing up such a problem in an assembly, lest they
be labeled obscene or be subjected to ridicule. Mockery is already known
to be the national tendency. On silencing the issue, the problem would
"disappear". Curiously, Cubans, who often boast of being sexual
athletes, get very picky when discussing issues related to this. And so,
the hostels, like other morally questionable sites, ended up red-listed
among the many useful institutions that disappeared under this government.

The fact is that twenty years later, with the growing housing crisis,
the steady deterioration of housing stock, and the chronic insufficiency
of construction, the authorities have opted to appeal to a supreme
source: turning into housing many of the local houses and offices
recently used by their institutions, plus factories that have been
closed due to the regressive economic effect of the system. Of course,
this is not about institutions that are strategic to the government, but
those that do not produce earnings, but expenses: The Ministry of
Education, of Housing, small factories, etc.

Thus, while the construction of new buildings with better dignified
façades are intended only for the sectors for the faithful ("atypical"
buildings for Armed Forces or Interior Ministry officials) or beautiful
homes are built for the anointed with closer relationships with the
power in exclusive neighborhoods of the city, such as the "frozen" area
in the vicinity of the hospital popularly known as CIMECQ, near Ground
Zero, a neighborhood that was for the previous highest bourgeoisie; the
disadvantaged get an ancient building or an austere narrow office space
turned into an apartment, where, slowly, as construction materials make
their appearance, they are building, with their own hands and with
moving illusion, what will be their home the day that they finally
install the last coat of plaster.

Those who want to verify this can simply pick out a sector of the city
and set their eyes on the details. The old tobacco factory located at
Carlos III and Árbol Seco is getting the final push to be transformed
into a kind of new type of rooming house which will accommodate 21
apartments for families. The old building of the micro-social in the
Casino Deportivo (3rd Street, between Entrada and 2nd) is also being
turned into small apartments, while the house that was a branch of the
Ministry of Education on the same block was given to a more lucky
family… maybe an official who is devout from one of the sacred,
untouchable institutions, those that don't get mutilated.

Mind you, I don't regret the disappearance of the offices of so many
obsolete units which, like the marabou weed*, have spread throughout
Cuba for over half a century. In fact, I would love to see their return
to their original condition as family homes, for example, four
comfortable mansions which for decades, after having been expropriated
from their rightful owners, have been used as headquarters of the
provincial committee of the Communist Party. That, and not to mention
the overwhelming number of buildings also occupied by other parasitic
organizations: CTC, CDR, FMC, DC, Popular Power, and an endless list.
The mansions of the leaders and their privileged neighborhoods, are, of
course, not linked to the housing program for the poor.

Given the lack of new construction, the inability of the state to build,
and the reluctance to allow work to develop from the initiative of
private contractors and private enterprises of Cubans, the government
has chosen to draw on the outgrowths of their own outdated institutions,
a kind of social autotrophy that, somehow, looks like a graphic
manifestation of the system's malnutrition.

*Translator's Note:
Dichrostachys cinerea. In Cuba, the plant is known as El Marabú or
Marabou weed. It has been estimated that it occupies close to five
million acres (20,000 km²) of agricultural land.

Translated by Norma Whiting

October 28 2011

http://translatingcuba.com/?p=12385

Joy and Hypertrophy / Yoani Sánchez

Joy and Hypertrophy / Yoani Sánchez

The Pan American Games in Guadalajara brought fresh winds to our
television programming, which had been insufferably dominated by
ideology since early October. Although our sportscasters continue to
believe that every competition is a kind of battle where to lose is to
surrender, we could ignore them and enjoy the show. It was even
surprising that, notwithstanding the attempts of the official
journalists to get the winners to dedicate their medals "to the
commander in chief," most preferred to offer them to their families,
girlfriends, mothers, happily waiting for them somewhere in the national
territory. The closing ceremony and the second place finish achieved by
our delegation cheered those still disgusted by the defeat of the Cuban
team in the Baseball World Championship. For a couple of weeks the sound
of the hit balls echoed more loudly than the slogans, and certain
everyday concerns faded into the background.

After the euphoria of victory, however, it's worth analyzing if this
second place finish really corresponds to our development as a country.
Watching this little Island facing down an emerging power like Brazil,
or a country as vast as Mexico, brings the same image to my mind over
and over. In it, a frail and toothless gentleman is showing me his
muscular arms a la Arnold Schwarzenegger. We live, undoubtedly, in a
hypertrophy similar to that of this skinny-legged man with the bulging
biceps, suffering an artificial enhancement of a sector that has nothing
to do with the economy or productivity of the nation. Should we rejoice
over the direct result of this disproportion? Or should we calmly
meditate on why this government tends to climb to the highest seats in
the international sports arena, at the cost of neglecting less visible,
or measurable, areas of our reality.

It is enough to travel Havana in search of a pool where children can
learn to swim, to ask oneself if the resources that should be reaching
many are invested in a just a few. We live on an Island and yet, a good
share of its inhabitants would drown if they fell in the water. To buy a
bicycle in a hard currency store costs as much as a year's salary, but
the women's cycling team won first, second and third place medals in
Guadalajara. The deterioration of the capital's major athletic center,
Ciudad Deportiva, is an embarrassment, while gold hangs from the necks
of dozens of Cuban athletes. My own son spent two semesters without a
P.E. teacher, because few want to work for a salary that is barely
symbolic. Sports require a physical infrastructure and not just in the
specialized schools and academies, they demand investment in facilities
for use by the public as well. Undertaking this could mean we earn fewer
medals, but it would also eliminate the hypertrophied image that today
marks our every victory in sports.

31 October 2011

http://translatingcuba.com/?p=12379

Al-Qaeda's Cuban connection: terrorism with a Latin beat

Al-Qaeda's Cuban connection: terrorism with a Latin beat
By Toby Westerman
November 1, 2011

Recent news of a Cuban national arrested apparently acting in sympathy
with Al-Qaeda and earlier reports of Cubans working with Al-Qaeda
operatives in the Western Sahara region of Morocco only hint at an
on-going and highly developed link between Havana and fundamentalist
Islam, including the terror group responsible for the devastating 9-11
attacks on American soil, Al-Qaeda.

Cuban intelligence, one of the best spy services in the world, appears
to have established close contact with Al-Qaeda through Pakistani
contacts in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, according to an analysis of
a veteran Cuba watcher and former Counterintelligence officer. A working
relationship between Havana and fundamentalist Islam in one of the most
volatile regions of the world threatens the lives of U.S. service
personnel and those who cooperate with them.

In an exclusive interview with International News Analysis Today, Chris
Simmons, a retired Counterintelligence Special Agent with 28 years
service in the Army/Army Reserve and 25 with the Defense Intelligence
Agency, tied the stationing of high-level Cuban intelligence operatives
in Pakistan with Al-Qaeda personnel operating in the region. Simmons has
briefed members of Congress on the Cuban intelligence threat, including
members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

"I don't have definitive proof, but abundant circumstantial evidence
points to Cuba and Al-Qaeda assisting each other in Islamabad," Simmons
stated.

Havana and fundamentalist Islam are no strangers. The terror group Hamas
is reported to have a presence in the Cuban capital, and Communist Cuba
has close contacts with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The latest, and possibly the most dangerous, point of contact for Cuba
and militant Islam, including Al-Qaeda, is the reopened Cuban embassy in
Pakistan. The man who established that contact and became Cuba's
ambassador to Pakistan is Cuban master spy, Gusatvo Machin Gomez.

Machin came to Pakistan with an impressive pedigree, which made him a
key figure for the Cubans and insured a warm welcome in Pakistan.

Machin's father fought and died with Cuban Communist idol Che Guevara in
Bolivia in 1967. Simmons told International News Analysis Today that
Machin followed his father's political fight in the arena of espionage.
Machin became a "U.S. Targets Officer," a member of a select and highly
trained group of some 50 individuals who concentrate on understanding,
manipulating, and inflicting damage upon critical nodes of the United
States government.

"They know us better than we know ourselves," Simmons observed regarding
the intense training commitment of U.S. Target Officers.

Unlike Cuba, the United States tends not to provide its intelligence
officers with the same concentration on a single target, Simmons said.

Machin rose to the rank of Deputy Chief of the U.S. Department of Cuba's
Foreign Affairs Ministry, which is dominated by Cuban intelligence
personnel. In 1998, he went undercover as a diplomat in the Cuban
Interests Section in Washington, D.C., a prime post for Cuban spies
targeting the United States.

Cuba and the United States maintain limited diplomatic contact through
Interests Sections within the Swiss Embassy in Washington and Havana
respectively. Machin held the rank of First Secretary, which is one step
below that of ambassador.

Simmons informed International News Analysis Today that Machin's rise
through diplomatic channels is a common path taken by particularly
skilled Cuban intelligence officers. The object of the intelligence
officers is to obtain information, both secret and sensitive but
unclassified, which Cuba regards as valuable, as well as exerting
influence on U.S. actions in Cuba's favor.

In 2002, Machin, who became well-known in Washington, was expelled from
the United States in retaliation for the activities of Ana Belen Montes,
the senior Cuban analyst in the Defense Intelligence Agency who was
convicted of spying for Havana.

The influence Machin exercised within various sectors of U.S. society
can be seen in the expression of regret by the president of the
U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, John S. Kavulich, following the
announcement of Machin's expulsion. Kavulich stated that, "The expulsion
of Mr. Machin hits at the epicenter of the Cuban interface with the
business community and the U.S. Congress."

Machin's next major overseas role was in Pakistan. In 2005, an
earthquake killed tens of thousands of Pakistanis, and Cuba responded by
sending some 2,500 medical personnel and 32 field hospitals. Machin
directed the operation. Then-Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf
complimented the Cuban government on its aid to his country. The Cuban
embassy, which had closed in 1990, was reopened the next year.

An espionage jackpot for Cuba, Pakistan, and militant Islam followed.

Just as he had plied the halls of Congress and the U.S. business
community for the benefit of Communist Cuba, now Machin took advantage
of the unsettled situation in Pakistan, a nation with nuclear weapons
capability, to advance Cuban interests, which often includes the death
and injury of U.S. military personnel.

By 2008, Machin not only established technical, scientific, and
agricultural interchanges, but the chairman of Pakistan's Joint Chiefs
of Staff Committee, General Tariq Majid, began talks on military
cooperation.

Machin continually has emphasized Cuba's success in withstanding
American power, a message well received by Pakistanis seeking ways to
assist brother fundamentalist Muslims, including the Al-Qaeda network.

Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is also well known to be
sympathetic to fundamentalist Islam, and Cuba is able to provide
important information on U.S. military movements to the Pakistan
government and its militant Islamic friends.

Within the pro-Cuba environment of Pakistan, Simmons sees cooperation
between the ISI and Cuba, established and nurtured by espionage expert
Machin.

Simmons observed that, since the beginning of the Communist Cuban
revolution, Cuba has been watching and carefully noting patterns of U.S.
military logistics and communications activities. Cuba monitors U.S.
communications both from the island and a base of operations within the
U.S., probably from the Interests Section in Washington, D.C.

Any deviation in that pattern alerts the Cubans to possible U.S.
actions, and then "their spies can fill in the blanks," Simmons stated.

Cuba's espionage techniques have been mostly successful in anticipating
U.S. actions from the invasion of Grenada to the American-led invasion
of Iraq. Pakistani intelligence and its fundamentalist allies, including
Al-Qaeda, value highly any information on U.S. actions in Afghanistan
and the region.

An intelligence advantage of the kind Cuba can offer would easily
translate into an increased number of American military deaths in the
plains, valleys and mountains of the region.

The Cuban information is not complete. While Cuba can provide
information regarding anomalies in White House, Pentagon, Special
Mission, and intelligence communications, the precise meaning or the
target intended would be left to the best speculation of ISI and Havana,
a sometimes difficult situation as the killing of Osama bin Laden
demonstrated.

Machin left his post in Pakistan in February 2011, but remained in the
country for another two months for reasons that remain unclear. His
replacement, Jesus Zenen Buerga Concepcion, is from the Cuban Mission to
the United Nations (CMUN), a diplomatic center in New York historically
known as the hub for Havana's U.S.-based espionage operations.

Cuban defector Alcibiades Hidalgo, who served at CMUN, stated that most
of Cuba's diplomats to the UN were committed to intelligence activities,
Simmons informed INA Today.

Machin's present position is chief of Cuba's International Press Center,
the office which grants credentials to all entities wanting to station
reporters in Cuba, a post traditionally held by Cuban intelligence
personnel, Simmons noted.

The American public is not being informed of the dangers that Cuban
intelligence presents to the United States. International News Analysis
Today is working to fill this dangerous gap. The public should demand to
know why the media, even the "conservative" media, almost never
addresses this pressing and growing threat.

© Toby Westerman

http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/westerman/111101

Cuban Company Marketing Medical Services to Be Launched at FIHAV

Cuban Company Marketing Medical Services to Be Launched at FIHAV
Tuesday, 01 November 2011 10:31

[Cuban Company Marketing Medical Services to Be Launched at FIHAV.]
Havana, Cuba, Nov 1.- A Cuban enterprise commercializing health services
among foreign patients, named "Empresa Comercializadora de Servicios
Medicos de Cuba S.A.", will be launched this Tuesday at the 29th
International Trade Fair underway at the exhibition center of Expocuba,
in Havana.

According to Director Ismael Castillo, the company is expected to
contribute to making the Cuban national health system sustainable and
more efficient.

Its portfolio is made up of more than 100 medical services, including
heart surgery, minimal access surgery, dental implants, rehabilitation,
reconstructive and cosmetics surgery etc.

It will also offer healthcare, academic and epidemiological services in
cases of disasters as well as provide humanitarian assistance to
countries like Haiti or any other that needs it.

Castillo told ACN there are currently 16 institutions in the country
offering medical services exclusively to foreign patients, though in
case of emergencies international visitors can receive assistance in any
health center of the country.

He stressed that the main purpose of the entity is to contribute to
making the Cuban national health system sustainable and more efficient
and relieve the government from the expenses of millions in ensuring
free healthcare to the Cuban people.

"With that income, the country will be able to continue investing in the
maintenance, repairing and buying medical equipments for public health
institutions to the benefit of the people," Castillo stressed.

He added that deals with more than 15 countries, such as Algeria, China,
Portugal, Jamaica, Qatar, Suriname and Ukraine will have been settled by
yearend, once the enterprise is officially constituted. (acn).

http://www.cadenagramonte.cu/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7892:cuban-company-marketing-medical-services-to-be-launched-at-fihav&catid=2:cuba&Itemid=14

Key political risks to watch in Cuba - 11-2011

Key political risks to watch in Cuba
Tue Nov 1, 2011 2:28pm GMT
By Jeff Franks

HAVANA Nov 1 (Reuters) - The Cuban government has been quietly cutting
its bloated payroll and stepping up plans to boost agricultural
production as part of reforms aimed at strengthening its socialist
system for the future.

Its long-delayed offshore oil exploration project in the Gulf of Mexico
is expected to start in January after the arrival of a Chinese-built
drilling rig now on its way from Singapore.

If oil is found, it will reduce or eliminate Cuba's reliance on oil
imports from Venezuela, whose President Hugo Chavez -- the island's top
ally and economic partner -- is battling an undisclosed type of cancer.
He is receiving treatment in Cuba.

ECONOMIC REFORM

Cuba has begun a government reorganization that will include replacement
of its sugar ministry with a state holding company [ID:nS1E78S0AG] and
the creation of new energy and mining ministries. Other ministries may
be eliminated.

Most state companies are controlled by ministries and lose money, but
will be given greater independence in hopes of improving their
performance. [ID:nS1E78T0I8]

Cuban media reports say there are now 338,000 people working in the
self-employed sector, the growth of which is being encouraged because
the cash-strapped government wants to slash a million jobs from its
payrolls.

So far, just under 150,000 people have lost their jobs, government
insiders say. [ID:nN1E7940HC] The goal is to have a third of Cuba's work
force of 5.2 million working in the "non-state" sector by 2015, up from
15 percent in 2010.

Cuban media said many state-owned small service businesses would be
leased to employees in October to run essentially as private businesses,
an extension of an experiment begun last year with barber shops and
beauty salons. So far, there has been no announcement of the change or
evidence it has begun.

Still to be announced are reforms, promised by President Raul Castro,
that will liberalize the sale of homes and loosen restrictive travel and
immigration rules. [ID:nN1E7701VN]

Cuba has been handing out idle land for farming and, looking to increase
output, has decided to increase the maximum size of plots to 165 acres
(67 hectares), up from the current maximum of 33 acres (13 hectares.
[ID:nN1E79I0BN]

Food output is up this year but still below 2005 levels and farmers
complain reforms are slow in coming. [ID:nS1E78R08J]

Two Canadian trading companies [ID:nS1E78F16C] and a British investment
firm [ID:nN1E79F034] are under investigation as part of Castro's
campaign to crack down on corruption that he says is a drag on the economy.

What to watch:

-- The pace and final version of reforms.

-- The numbers and performance of the newly self-employed.

-- Agricultural production.

FINANCIAL HEALTH

Cuba still is recovering from a liquidity crisis that led to a default
on payments and freezing of foreign business bank accounts.
[ID:nN24211495] President Castro said the bank accounts issue will be
resolved by year's end, but many companies say they are still owed money.

The government has said tax payments from the self-employed have
increased revenues, while its top hard currency earners -- tourism and
nickel exports -- have improved.

Castro has said Cuba's economy should grow 2.9 percent this year, up
from 2.1 percent in 2010. Cuba's reserves at the Bank for International
Settlements stood at $5.75 billion in March, double what they were at
the end of 2008. [ID:nN1E79U0I0]

Long-awaited golf course developments, aimed at attracting wealthier
tourists, remain on hold. [ID:nN04118234]

The first American tourists to visit Cuba under more flexible travel
rules ordered by U.S. President Barack Obama began arriving in August.
Experts say the new rules could bring as many as 100,000 additional
Americans this year. [ID:nN1E77F13C]

What to watch:

-- Resolution of bank account access for foreign businesses.

-- Effects of global economic problems.

-- The growth of American travel to Cuba.

OIL PLANS

A Chinese-built drilling rig, the Scarabeo 9, is expected to arrive in
Cuban waters by late December [ID:nN1E790U0], where it will be used in
the first major exploration of Cuba's part of the Gulf of Mexico.
[ID:nN1E77P03U] Spain's Repsol YPF and its partners will get the rig
first, followed by Malaysia's Petronas and its partner, Russia's Gazprom
Neft.

The project has drawn opposition in the U.S. Congress [ID:nS1E78R1P9],
but Repsol has rejected accusations it is breaking U.S. law
[ID:nL5E7KU118] and said it will let the United States inspect the rig.
[ID:nN1E79H1XN] U.S. oil companies are forbidden from operating in Cuba
by a long-standing U.S. trade embargo.

Cuba depends on imports from its oil-rich ally Venezuela, but says it
may have 20 billion barrels of oil offshore. The U.S. Geological Survey
has estimated 5 billion barrels.

China has signed an agreement to play a major role in increasing Cuban
oil production [ID:nN08140650] and its state oil company is said to be
considering leasing exploration blocks in Cuban waters. [ID:nN1E76C1S6]
China and Cuba are also negotiating contracts for a $6 billion expansion
of Cuba's Cienfuegos refinery and a liquefied natural gas project.
[ID:nN22266891]

What to watch:

-- Arrival of drilling rig.

-- Results of Repsol's exploratory well.

-- U.S. pressure to stop the drilling.

-- China's growing involvement in Cuban oil development.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

A major concern for Cuba is the health of Chavez, whose government
provides 114,000 barrels of oil a day and investment to Cuba.

He has been undergoing chemotherapy in Cuba and recently declared
himself cancer free [ID:nN1E79J13X], but his death or departure from
office would be a big blow to the island. Chavez is very close to former
leader Fidel Castro, who is 85 and increasingly frail.

U.S.-Cuba relations, which thawed briefly under Obama, have been frozen
by the imprisonment of U.S. aid contractor Alan Gross. [ID:nN24221723]
He is serving a 15-year sentence for providing Internet gear to Cuban
groups under a U.S. program promoting Cuban political change.
[ID:nN12265306]

Cuba is angry that five Cuban agents have been jailed in the United
States since 1998, and has given no indications that Gross will be
released early.

What to watch:

-- Health of Chavez.

-- Continued imprisonment of Alan Gross. (Additional reporting by Marc
Frank; Editing by Kieran Murray)

http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFRISKCU20111101?sp=true

In Cuba, A Used Car Is No Bargain

In Cuba, A Used Car Is No Bargain
by Nick Miroff
October 31, 2011

What may be the most expensive Honda Civic in the world can be found in
Havana. There's nothing especially luxurious about the car: It's a red
2005 model, with 60,000 miles on the odometer.

But what is special about this Civic is that there are few like it on
the supply side of Cuba's used car market. And that's why Acela Claro
says she's had plenty of interest, even though she's offering it for
$65,000.

"I've been getting calls and emails from as far away as Madrid," Claro
says. She adds that the inquiries are coming from Cubans as well as
foreigners on the island who want a newer car.

Until a few weeks ago, there was no way to legally transfer ownership of
a vehicle like this. The only cars that could be freely bought and sold
were those built before 1959, when Fidel Castro came to power. That's
why there are still nearly 60,000 classic cars on Cuba's streets, but
few late-model Hondas. Bringing in a new car requires special government
permission and a 100 percent import tax, but Claro still says the U.S.
embargo is the reason she's asking so much.

This is probably the only country in the world where you don't have a
junkyard for cars. We simply get the wreckage and put it on wheels and
drive it again.

- Nelson Ramos, a car enthusiast

"Our country is so blockaded that we can't just bring in anything we
want," Claro says. "That's why a car like this doesn't cost the same as
it would [in the United States]."

The Cuban government has long treated car ownership as a privilege and a
reward, not a right. Doctors, military officers and exemplary workers
got the chance to buy one from the state, often at subsidized prices.

But since Cubans couldn't legally sell their vehicles, they learned to
do everything possible to keep them on the road.

Nelson Ramos, a car enthusiast and former economist in Havana, says cars
in Cuba are "like members of the family."

"Cars stay in the family forever. And you take care of the car, you fix
the engine, and we probably have the best mechanics in the world," Ramos
says. "This is probably the only country in the world where you don't
have a junkyard for cars. We simply get the wreckage and put it on
wheels and drive it again."

There's always been a black market for used cars in Cuba, and even now,
the best way to find vehicles is though illegal brokers or by going online.

Over slow dial-up Internet connections, Cubans who know how get around
government censors can shop on Craigslist-style classified sites like
Revolico or Cubisima. The prices are stunning. A 2006 Hyundai Accent is
priced at $40,000. A 1993 Volkswagen Jetta, $20,000. In a country where
the average wage is still around $20 a month, only Cubans with relatives
abroad or lucrative private businesses can pay such a fortune. But they do.

Waiting for passengers outside the Havana bus terminal, cab driver Pedro
Cantero shows off the green Russian Lada his father was allowed to
purchase in 1980 as a reward for cutting so much sugar cane. Cantero
says the battered sedan is still worth nearly $10,000 today in Cuba,
even more than when it first rolled off the Soviet assembly line.

"We're happy about the new change, because it removes an unnecessary
restriction," Cantero says. "I'm going to take better care of the car
knowing I can sell it if I need to."

But before any car owners in the U.S. start calculating what their used
vehicles might sell for in Cuba, they should keep in mind that between
the U.S. embargo and Cuba's own restrictions, neither government would
allow it.

http://www.npr.org/2011/10/31/141858419/in-cuba-a-used-car-is-no-bargain