Government inspectors in Santiago de Cuba seized products from a self-employed worker who was selling them on a city street this Tuesday.
Today, self-employed workers, sellers of products from carts, and many who had their tables on the corners of Barracones Street in Santiago de Cuba, suffered the confiscation of their products by governmental "inspectors," who without any identification, got off a truck and began taking the products from the vendors," independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada denounced on Facebook.
The communicator mentioned that the interveners arrived saying: "Put everything in the bag," while several people were recording what was happening.
The publication was made to request the authorities of the Party and the Government in Santiago de Cuba to be accountable for the actions of these individuals. "Inspectors, if necessary, cannot arrive like 'criminals' and take away everything they see in their path," said Mayeta Labrada.
Those who act as inspectors must formally introduce themselves and show their identification, they must comply with the completion of documents and seizure records so that authorized self-employed workers can claim their merchandise, with a guarantee that their products have not been lost," he reflected.
Seizures are a reality that Cubans are experiencing, amidst a landscape of shortages and scarce offerings, as well as excessive prices.
Precisely, the member of the Political Bureau and President of the National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP), Esteban Lazo Hernández, declared last July in favor of seizures and confiscations of goods and properties as the most effective way to hit alleged lawbreakers where "it hurts the most."
"Sir, the sanction that hurts people the most here is when their belongings are taken away, more than fines. I take away your merchandise, I take away your property for violating the law, because one must respect the laws of this country. This is a country of law; if you have a license, I will take away your license, and if you continue to break the laws, you will go to court," said Lazo in the Economic Affairs Committee of Parliament, during its ordinary session in July of last year.
Her words have been taken literally by local governments and their inspectors.
In Havana, an official was caught threatening drivers of the well-known "riquimbilis" with confiscating their vehicles if they are caught driving without license plates.
While in March of this year, a Cuban protested in front of the Communist Party headquarters in Havana, after allegedly having several items confiscated from his backpack.
Most recently, a young Cuban woman reported the illegal confiscation of her father's truck in Santiago de Cuba for alleged illicit activity and accused the authorities of delaying the clarification of the case in order to confiscate and appropriate the vehicle.
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