“CON LA MISMA MONEDA” VICTORY: ACTIVISTS ACHIEVE ACCEPTANCE OF PAYMENT IN CUBAN PESOS

Holguín, Cuba, may 14th, 2009. The promoters of the “Con la Misma Moneda”  (With the Same Currency) campaign achieved a major victory in the city of San Germán, Holguín province, by forcing the acceptance of the national currency (Cuban pesos) as payment in an establishment run by the Cuban government’s Cubalse Corporation. Prior to this, the store only accepted Cuban convertible pesos (CUC) as a form of payment.

The news was sent from San Germán by Lourdes Yen Rodríguez, Executive Director of the Federation of Latin American Rural Women (FLAMUR in Spanish). Mrs. Yen Rodríguez stated that the evens began on May 12th, when activists from FLAMUR and the Cuban Republican Party went to a place operated by the Cubalse Corporation Store Chain, located on 14^th street between 25th and 27th streets, in San Germán and bought personal health items. The activists presented Cuban pesos as payment, refusing to comply with the arbitrary government regulations that deny Cubans the right to pay with the same currency in which they receive their salaries.

The group of activists included Maribel Pena Jike; Andrés Matamoros González; Santa Sánchez Romero; Juan Emilio Soto Peralta; Bernardo Pérez Calderón; Ester Milanés Riva; Lourdes Yen Rodríguez herself and her husband Yosvany Anzardo Hernandez. Confronted by the activist’s refusal to pay in CUC, the store manager was forced to accept the payment in Cuban pesos. Following their example, numerous customers ran to the store to pay in Cuban pesos.

“The payment in national currency is now accepted without reservation. The store sells its products in CUC, but a lot of customers have adopted the attitude of paying in national currency, so the management of the corporation has authorized their employees to accept the national currency. It’s a step forward, thanks to the victory obtained by the activists who carried out this sequence of civil disobedience actions”, expressed Lourdes Yen. “This victory is a landmark for the opposition on the Island, imposing the will of the people on the regime. We will not stop until we make the fruit of our labor worthy of being used at any establishment in this country. Con la Misma Moneda (With the Same Currency), it is our right”.

“This shows the power of nonviolent struggle, when people organize themselves with an strategic vision”, added Magdelivia Hidalgo, FLAMUR’s International Representative.