HAVANA, (Reuters) – Cubans lined up at notary offices and banks yesterday to do deals or lay the groundwork for them on the first day they could legally buy and sell houses in more than half a century.
They said they welcomed the chance to finally make money off their property in a step away from the doctrinaire communism they have lived under since Cuba’s 1959 revolution.
The change was the result of a reform announced last week by the government, which is liberalizing the Soviet-style economy in hopes of keeping one of the world’s last communist states afloat. Last month, it gave its citizens the right to freely buy and sell cars for the first time since 1959.
Previously, Cubans could legally only trade their home for others in what they call a “permuta, although often the transactions included payments under the table.
Cubans said the reform offered something many have not had for a long time — a chance to improve their lives.
“This is now or never. It’s an opportunity and you have to take risks to get something better,” said Margot, a state worker who only gave her first name, as she stood in line at a notary office to do the paperwork to sell her Havana home and buy another.
