The government closed two Havana Paladares for ‘money laundering’

HAVANA, June 15th  (DDC) The government closed El Litoral and Lungo Mare, two popular private restaurants in Havana, according to blogger Fernando Ravsberg, a former BBC correspondent in Cuba.

According to Ravsberg, the order responded that “the Cuban authorities would have initiated a campaign to prevent the economic opening on the island to serve to launder money from abroad.”

The owner of both premises, which the Uruguayan calls “successful”, has been “the first to be imprisoned” in this offensive against “money laundering.”

Police made a “thorough search” on both paladares  near the Malecón and in the owner’s own home, where they even raised the floor.

Ravsberg recalled that one of these ” Paladares” had already been fined for “receiving stolen goods”, but now the accusations would include not only the alleged money laundering, but also a supposed “link with drug trafficking.”

“With such a judicial case, he can hardly reopen his business,” said the journalist.

The cuentapropista sector has begun to expand slightly in the Island. One type of business authorized by the Government is the one of the services, as it is the case of the paladares.

“Some foreigners have seen the possibility of investing through a Cuban to launder black money, the product of illegal activities or simply of undeclared gains to the treasury of their countries,” concludes Ravsberg.