The Mother of All Lines Extends 16 Blocks in Havana

By Juan Diego Rodríguez (14ymedio)

HAVANA TIMES – Thousands of people formed a line this Thursday near the Cuatro Caminos market in Havana. Neighbors of the place confirmed to this newspaper the unusual line, which can be seen in videos and photos on social networks.

“A thing never seen before: the line began in Matadero, went along Omoa to the corner of Tejas and went down Monte,” a resident of Centro Habana said in surprise. A total of 16 blocks.

All of them waited, in a muffled murmur, to hand over their cards and be put on a list that determines what day they can go shopping within the next two weeks. Outside of the day they get, they can’t shop, and on the day they get lucky, there may not be what they need in the stores.

“The Special Brigade does not enter that mob,” joked a young man who witnessed the crowd. “The Cuatro Camino Revolution is drawing near.”

Another neighbor is not so optimistic: “Can you imagine if the cause of those people, instead of chicken, was democracy? Chicken has won the battle for us.”

“This line forms every 14 days, but it has been getting longer and longer for some time,” explains another resident of the neighborhood, who says that on March 24, the area was heavily guarded by the security forces.

That was the day that the island suffered a general outage of internet service for about an hour, which Etecsa attributed to an “energy failure.” At that time, there were many who, on social networks and in the streets, feared that the reason for the blackout was something else, as happened during the protests on July 11, to prevent information about the demonstrations from continuing to circulate.

In the surroundings of the Plaza de Cuatro Caminos the connection problems lasted several days, according to several residents.

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