{"id":243455,"date":"2021-09-09T13:24:02","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T17:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=243455"},"modified":"2021-09-09T13:24:02","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T17:24:02","slug":"reinvent-or-die-cuban-private-sector-in-face-of-pandemics-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/reinvent-or-die-cuban-private-sector-in-face-of-pandemics-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Reinvent or die: Cuban private sector in face of pandemic\u2019s impact"},"content":{"rendered":"

The pandemic has had a different impact on the different <\/span>private businesses in Cuba<\/span><\/a>: where some have had economic losses, others have taken advantage of the crisis to grow in the last year and a half.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Swing Habana Bar has been closed for two years. It is a benchmark for the swingers\u2019 community in Cuba, and its owner Fidel Espinosa is \u201cpatiently\u201d waiting for COVID-19 to pass to \u201cstart from scratch.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This entrepreneur tells EFE that he prefers to appeal to calm given how difficult it has been for him and his 13 employees to keep the premises closed in the central Havana neighborhood of Vedado.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Fidel Espinosa, owner of the Swing Habana Bar, in an interview with EFE, on September 1, 2021. Photo: Ernesto Mastrascusa\/EFE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gone are the lively nights that since 2017 the bar has offered couples and singles willing to exchange their companions in a healthy and respectful environment between shows and jam sessions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today the small space that the Swing Habana occupies has been taken over by humidity, with furniture stacked in a corner but with the hope of returning to its best moments, says its owner.<\/span><\/p>\n

WALKING THROUGH HAVANA, BY BICYCLE<\/b><\/p>\n

A few kilometers from Fidel\u2019s Bar is Nayvis D\u00edaz\u2019s bicycle rental and repair project, which, unlike the first, has grown exponentially in the same period.<\/span><\/p>\n

V\u00e9loCuba, the community bike business created seven years ago, increased and expanded its services when public transportation was limited due to the pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Public bicycle system for Havana municipality is put in tender<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n