The Dilemma of Economic Contracting (1) / Cuban Law Association, Rodrigo Chavez #Cuba

By Lic. Rodrigo Chávez

Monotony? War of attrition? Psychological pressure? False expectations? Or direct or indirect solutions in the short, medium or long term?

With so many questions, we do not know how to start, but it is true and, as always, there is a beginning and an end, that … God forbid, has started and can be completed, directly or indirectly in the short, medium or long term.

The issue of contracting, which is so inherent to the Cuban, that you can almost say he has become a specialist in this area without even knowing the essential elements that comprise it, suffice it to say that “horse trading” or “haggling” or whatever you want to call it is a daily form of establishing contractual relations between two or more people who want to be engaged in a relationship, legal or illegal (it’s very trendy in the underground market), and even though the State knows it, it cannot act effectively against them and believe me, in this market there is more than enough supply to meet the demand.

Let’s look at the issue of the newspaper Granma, on August 3, 2012, on page 4, titled Companies Must Play Their Part, by the journalist Ivette Sosa Hernandez. We ask ourselves, if the international contraction goes badly, as required, is contracting at the national level in good health? The rules for international contracts (covering a larger number of subjects, different economies, etc.), are not the same as those that apply to the national (internal order in the state enterprise sector and even in the private sector).

Indeed, the laws and regulations that still apply to economic contracting, do not conform to current conditions, so we can infer they have been frozen in time.

Both internationally and nationally, concluding a legal instrument of the magnitude of a contract, involves a solemn act, seriousness, responsibility, rights and obligations for the parties, but is primarily a meeting of the minds, wills backed by trust and commitment to its full implementation, so much so that in its commitment and arbitration clauses it does not become a dead letter.

Formalism, has become for Cuban entrepreneurs, something commonplace and everyday and therefore close to creativity, so it is unusual to speak about about bidding, negotiating; in such cases, the lawyer’s voice or intervention is usually relegated to the background, the lawyer is not on the plane where he should be but is called in cases of default, when conflict is already imminent, when given sufficient time he would have known the state of gestation that led to the evolution, development and delivery of such conflict.

October 1 2012