Translator: Unstated, Yoani Sánchez
News has several lives on this Island. First they hint at something but
don't publish it, then they announce it tersely in some national media,
and later its echo repeatedly feeds popular fantasy. This has happened
with the recent information about the new flexibility in buying and
selling homes. For months–perhaps years–we spun the rumor that a new
housing law was about to be approved, that the absurdities of real
estate would no longer stand. But only when the Cuban Communist Party
Congress addressed it in Guideline No. 297, could we put some hesitant
certainty to it. Although late, the measure has sparked an exclamation
of relief, but has also revealed our suspicions.
Curiously, most people who bring up the issue, repeatedly put the same
question to me. "Can you sell your house before leaving the country?"
everyone asks, as if the real estate business was just a step to
fulfilling the widespread dream of emigration. Until now, someone who
permanently left the country was dispossessed of their property. Only a
family member living under the same roof–and for ten years–was able to
stay put, but they had to pay the National Institute for Urban Reform
the value of the house. Forced evictions of those who didn't follow this
rule became a common sight on the streets of this capital. Now, the
great conundrum is whether a property owner will have the power to
dispose of their home on the market and use that money to relocate to
another latitude. How much time should elapse between this commercial
transaction and the departure from the national territory?
We have been conned so much that people prefer to wrap themselves in
skepticism and believe that the new selling measures will also be full
of restrictions. I am surprisingly optimistic amid so much suspicion. I
argue to the doubters, "The government is forced to open up, or the
reality will leave them behind," but they prefer to carry on without
illusion. Notwithstanding their distrust, many cherish the idea of
offering the walls within which they live in exchange for a ticket and
visa to get out of Cuba. Sell and leave, trading a roof here for one
there, using their small patrimony to escape. And do this before the
real estate flag drops again, before the step back is taken.
5 July 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment