Policia asking for a bribe now?
Just something that happened to me not too long ago.
I was walking back from Floridita Hotel, it was around 2 am. Too early to call it a night so I was looking for an adventure. I noticed how female cops were so good looking and friendly. Simply amazing!
Florida bar was already closed so I figure I'll walk around parque centrale (don't know how to spell it) , see if there are any girls. Some Cuban guy comes up, asking me what time it was (the usual approach) , and eventually is offering to hook me up with his female friend. All he wants is I buy him a beer at a bar near by.
I was up to go to another bar, plus the prospect of meeting someone made me say yes! . So we go to a bar where I sit down and get myself a drink. The guy disappears for a while and comes back with a girl and a gay looking guy. We all sit down, he introduces me to both of them saying he met another friend. Blah blah blah. The usual Cuban set up. Buy them beer now. Not a problem, bear are 2cuc / can. 8 cuc later we are all drinking.
I didn't get a good feeling about the woman. In Cuba your standards go way up and she was not up to mine. Whatever. We keep drinking, some people in the bar are dancing. I am entertained!
The girl says she needed to leave since I am not interested and she goes out. Ten minutes later we all finish our beers and I decide to leave the bar. The Cuban guy and his gay friend also stand up and leave with me. Now I got suspicious at this point. But I couldn't quite rationalize what the scam could be. I was in a well lit area with cops around, so I wasn't scared.
Anyway, we come out out of the bar and boom. A cop comes up to us and asks everyone for an I'd. I have never been asked by a cop for an I'd in Cuba. It's usually the Cubans with foreigners being asked for their I'd!
Now my Spanish is shit. Very basic. The Cuban guy spoke reasonable English. I tell the cop I don't have any I'd on me (I would never take my passport with me while going out- too much of a risk to lose it plus I have never ever been asked to produce it as I am very foreign looking)
I explain in my broken Spanish I don't have anything and my passport is en casa particular. Etc. The Cuban guy and his friend act like they are scared. And they tell me the cop wants to take me to the station and charge with prostitution unless I give him 20 cuc! I was like what prostitution. Where? In the bar?
I didn't get laid that night so I was already pissed! I was a bit drunk and tired too so I just had enough of this shit and started yelling at the cop something like: let's go to your station and I tell your superiors how you extort money from foreigners! This is not fucking Mexico! Fuck Mexico. You not getting money from me. LOL.
Anyways, the cop lets go his two friends (I think) and still trying to talk to me in Spanish I just don't understand. He made me sit on the curb for 10 min pretending he is waiting for a police car and then let me go. The fucker realized I am not paying up shit!
Cuba was always safe for foreigners. That's part of the reason I came back to the Isla. If cops are getting corrupt, women are asking 80CUC for an hour. Forget about it!