Cuba's Black Market Hits the Internet

By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 25, 2009 5:15 AM CDT
Cuba's Black Market Hits the Internet
An old book 'Fidel and The Religion' is seen on a book stall February 24, 2004 in Havana, Cuba.   (Getty Images)

The Internet has lured Cuba's black marketeers online, GlobalPost reports. In a nation that bans most private commerce, a Craigslist-style website has emerged offering everything from American razor blades to True Blood DVDs. Buyers with fatter wallets can pick up computer equipment, a $6,000 illegal Internet hookup, or a sham marriage "if you want to make a deal to leave the island."

“Half the money when we start the process, half the money at the end,” wrote a Cuban-American woman offering her services for such a scheme. “Price is negotiable.” The site's most surreal section sells Cuban cars, which—thanks to title-transfer restrictions—all pre-date 1960. Site administrators say Revolico.com, whose name means, roughly, "disarray," is surging, with 1.5 million monthly hits and 100,000 classifieds over the past 60 days. No word yet on Revolico from the Castro regime.
(More Cuba stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X