08.12
Maria Julia is desperate. She lives in a Havana flat that belongs to her husband’s grandparents.
For the last seven years she and her husband have shared a bedroom with their two children.
Maria Julia – not her real name – fears her relationship with her husband will not withstand the pressures of their living arrangements for much longer.
She says she has only one chance of securing a separate flat in Havana for her family and saving her relationship – and it is drastic.
“The only option I have is to divorce my husband, and to marry a man who has legal title to a flat. I will pay him. Then in two years, he will sign over the property to me, we will get divorced and I will marry my husband again.”
This complicated transaction will cost Maria Julia $10,000 (£6,800). It is a fortune in Cuba, but the minimum going rate. Her sister has sent her the money from the US, and Maria Julia has it hidden – in cash – somewhere in Havana.
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