) U3 G2 X7 P. ~% u. i第一位女郎说，我需要交给她几百欧元，她会给我开一张换住新酒店的定单。我必须先交钱，这是古巴国营旅行社的规则。 9 w( e l( C$ u, v8 ~/ X5 \+ R ' X6 K2 E5 R, o4 i/ V& F我说，我从来没有见过你，你随口一说，我怎么能保证你说的全是真话呢？看着她那款镶着水钻的手机，我问道，你能不能给办公室打个电话，让我问一声？ 2 b' ]9 a, N4 a8 _ ' ~+ q1 o; A; O. ]' q, W0 T. ], D她立马儿回答，“不行不行。这是我的私人电话，从来不用来办公事，那得花我自己的钱”。 9 L; p4 v. D6 @( j5 h* }/ K$ I( n, O5 v: S) u2 ]( r
我说，那你能不能一小时之后回来，带张介绍信什么的，证明自己确实在旅行社工作？2 E% ~) Q% y& [/ j' n* t
& w+ f+ U A2 W" i我算了一下，通过国营旅行社换酒店，先后共有六个人用了八个小时的时间！- j* m3 E' d& ]$ L; T' y |( F1 T
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还要多请人？ + M6 x" Q4 I8 ~1 P7 n, j: [4 v/ G6 y% J$ S" i+ u, f
古巴总统劳尔•卡斯特罗想要铲除的正是这种官僚作风、效率低下。他宣布，今后几个月内，古巴国营部门至少要裁减50万人。下岗的人必须注册为“自雇”，根据收入上税。9 \1 t+ @7 N' N1 I0 o9 ?" k
5 O; [8 S) F$ B2 s" c1 c0 o [对于古巴人来说，上税、没有工作都是新鲜事。古巴革命保证给人民带来的两大“收获”原本是人人有工作、国家的创收能确保工人永远不付税。: O9 L9 W+ q" p
" g2 ~( M8 m1 r- G& ]现在，劳尔•卡斯特罗本人都承认，这种模式已经崩溃了。$ s! \/ l9 b2 ?7 x+ d% v5 A
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古巴现在必须面对的挑战是，国人被迫自谋出路，将带来怎样的后果？ 7 a" U( V. B& M ?5 M* B3 b5 V: e) q# t6 k, t/ Q3 }- a q8 Q9 l3 t" g
在我看来，一个能干的人、用一两分钟的时间，足以给我换家酒店。我去问旅行社的一位女郎，她是否担心下岗呢？5 r1 O2 N4 N) T4 \
5 t* h+ V$ v+ M& ?/ M8 U她骄傲地说，根本不担心。旅游业是创收产业。真要改革，恐怕只能是多请人。/ _8 {6 k5 l h8 ?* {3 u0 V
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Cuba is not only for the hot salsa worth of a trip$ W2 S0 c8 b, Q! j7 N2 g8 h5 _
' j+ s B# ~5 S2 ?5 x4 GRed tape in Cuba: A struggle to change hotels in Havana ; s1 n; d4 D ?; }3 `
2 ?$ L* |0 f3 P1 Q. E# TCuba has declared war on inefficiency. The state is preparing lay off half a million people, and novelties such as income tax are on the way in. But inefficiency has put down deep roots. / y( E% O/ m( P5 e: m' t7 \( I. Q8 e6 b# O: v
I made the mistake in Havana recently of trying to change hotels. & e- Y7 f r( U! E6 {, z: Y& z9 D5 ^9 f. r
The first young woman I asked about this was very charming. She telephoned her main office, was told the person responsible was at lunch, and said I should come back in an hour.- A& l, g& ^6 Q$ M3 _, g( U
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When I returned, another charming young woman was sitting at her desk. She told me that her colleague had now gone off to lunch herself, and had left no instructions. " K I" u" w4 M% y) H! o! X6 k, b6 S. D( X; S2 s0 l
I waited for half an hour, then went back to my hotel. % [* H4 H# c; a; V1 Z* Q1 Y. I* [6 \$ G" J
A couple of hours later, I received a phone call in my room from reception. 2 [7 W! c% ~9 K7 z( ?1 B% Q! F( E" f |- k& }! `5 b
This time there was not one but two equally charming young Cuban girls waiting for me downstairs. " {/ f5 X+ b$ D3 }9 l7 q8 c, z: e/ `* P3 w" b
The first of these said I was to hand over several hundred euros and she would give me a voucher for the new hotel. 9 g8 @: E3 ~8 S' J2 h" c; D# c. A % \6 y; g4 X5 Q rI had to pay up-front, because that was how it was done in the state tourist firm. / L5 r! J' h( e# U" I . t S8 @. G& J* |. I7 v6 E4 C( q6 |I pointed out I had never seen her before, and so had no guarantee she was who she said she was. Would she mind using her large rhinestone-decorated mobile phone to call her office and let me speak to them?8 x3 {2 M, e/ ?5 n: y4 S
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"Ay, no mi amor," was her instant reply. "This is my private cell phone. I would never use it for work. That costs money".& H2 R6 G4 V; ?( u
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I said could she please come back in an hour with some sort of official document proving she worked for the travel firm? 3 R6 v0 Y( l1 Q2 q % ]! N1 L. c" ~8 iOf course, she said, then she and her friend disappeared. - x& N6 w, @+ I: b: p% l. g 6 }; ?$ k7 {# \+ qTwo hours later, when they had still not re-appeared, I decided to go down to the tourist office myself. 1 Y) [3 y1 W. p6 Q4 Z
: F$ `' V1 O ?# L. eHere, another two charming women professed no knowledge of my request at all.0 k9 K. Z& d( f" @$ w
8 v! K7 f7 ]( L' j8 |, h( N8 _It took the pair of them another half an hour to ring the new hotel, locate the manager, and extract a promise from him that there was a free room for me. % n+ E$ r5 g; M/ f . Y$ }4 m: g$ U o& ESatisfied with this, I went back to my first hotel. 4 q- w: o5 k. M) b" ~( d3 A: P) N J7 _ X
By now it was early evening, and I thought the matter was closed. 1 Q% C' l+ n& R ) x5 t, U1 H/ e$ b; zBut no, another hour later the two charming young ladies rang up to my room again. They said they had come back earlier, but had been unable to find me, did I not want to change hotels after all?+ G, _; Q/ r, W1 K7 j
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I went down to the lobby to confront them with my signed voucher from head office.. x/ E, S" a! x8 ~. w
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Far from appeasing them, this seemed to cause even further problems.+ q; i2 [# k- H9 k4 S
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They knew nothing of the visit I had made to what was supposed to be their main agency, and again would not phone there. They have all gone home at this time of night, they said.4 G5 h$ y/ E1 o7 w7 {6 ~0 Q
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I still had to hand over euros for the exchange, but had lost the chance just to give it to them, they insisted.7 g, j" l F) }5 g& n$ d$ Q6 N: q6 N" B
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The next morning I would have to go personally to their office - which it turned out was not where I had been, but another one dealing with money transactions" A0 x4 c: c ]+ g
: C8 i6 B5 u4 k9 YI set out bright and early for this second office to pay for my voucher.% }* h3 |1 e. ]& F+ A3 ^/ A
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Once again, the two charming young women were there." K6 F9 r7 l7 V, o' A1 E: ?8 i
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This time, things went more smoothly, and I was able to hand over the euros and get my receipt - except that it took them half an hour to write all this down longhand, then get the receipt stamped in yet another office. % h8 }, K/ P& S& T$ f% m 7 q: \) F0 `# `( `2 E a$ S% O$ LI calculated that by going through the state tourist agency, six people had taken up to eight hours to change a single booking.& X5 s' k8 i4 @/ o8 B1 s: N8 e
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Broken model " t4 W/ i" C9 w0 {) n$ F1 x7 Y+ \2 Q' r
It is this kind of bureaucratic inefficiency that President Raul Castro is trying to stamp out by announcing that at least half a million jobs in Cuba's state sector will have to go over the coming months. % A, X( H/ z7 R' U: g0 z1 _7 C" R X) {& C8 g
Those who no longer have a job will be expected to register as self-employed, and be taxed on their earnings.4 b3 u+ y/ G; U: M9 i+ Z% x
) S8 G, D3 b& q+ P Q4 j6 rBoth paying tax and not having a job are complete novelties for Cubans. Two of the gains of the revolution were meant to be that there would be work for everyone, and that the state would generate enough revenue for workers not to have to pay tax. 4 @2 _ t7 V% u3 h 9 X T% T# A# @ G) mNow, as Raul Castro himself has admitted, that model has completely broken down.! a0 {; c; Y. O9 \" ]
^0 D- T" O; c+ A& tCuba now faces the challenge of what will happen when its citizens have to try to earn a living on their own. % X8 \, J* {& Q8 ?) T+ K0 P1 F, X3 p7 h) \: L. r1 a& z
It seemed to me that just one competent person could have dealt with my transfer in a couple of minutes - but when I asked one of the tourist women if she was concerned about the coming redundancies, she proudly announced that no, tourism was a productive sector, and that if anything, they would need to take on more staff.
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