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The following day, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, published a photo of his interview with the young opponent, reiterating “Spain’s commitment to freedom.” This weekend, denunciations of Castroism circulated on the networks by Czech, Dutch, Spanish and Latin American parliamentarians.

The Plaza of the Revolution’s capacity to maneuver continues to deteriorate. A couple of months ago, the European Parliament, with a vote of 426 in favor and 146 against, approved a resolution condemning the repression on the island, and a growing number of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are demanding the suspension of cooperation agreements with Cuba, due to the failure to comply with a clause on respect for human rights.

Much progress has been made, I would dare to say that more than is generally recognized in the diaspora and on the island.

Times change and most young people are not interested in Fidel Castro; many despise him, blaming him for the misery of their lives and the national tragedy. Opposition leaders have dismissed the official rhetoric of intimidation and insults to Cubans who think differently.

Today, a minimum of internet access is essential for the functioning of any society. In the case of Cuba, this is key especially for the development of tourism, an economic factor of vital importance given the disappearance of the sugar industry and, likewise, of the gift of Venezuelan oil. It will be impossible for President Díaz-Canel to keep the entire country permanently under media martial law and with a suffocating military presence in the cities and towns of the nation. Protests in Cuba, personal or massive, can no longer be ignored internationally.

The public commitment of the Cuban Church, after decades of caution or complicity, worries Raúl Castro and the leadership, made up mostly of white, obese, stagnant octogenarian military men, veterans of a revolutionary insurrection that today is pure paleohistory for the new generations that now demand a change towards a life in truth.

Yunior García insists that he not be called the leader of the Archipiélago Movement, suggests that the United States tighten against the regime without causing pain to the Cuban people, and opposes, as many have done, the so-called “pressure cooker” doctrine, which has never been the foundation of Washington policy. If so, there would not be two million Cuban-Americans, nor would the exile remittances alleviate the hunger of thousands of families.

Joe Biden is right: the US must provide free internet to Cubans, and “the oppressors,” as the American president describes those who misgovern in Cuba, should give their families the dollars in remittances that are sent in dollars from the United States. Biden has made concessions to tourists to enjoy our beaches and must not do more until there are serious changes in Cuba.

The future is today, no matter how criminally the commanders of the past strive to deny the undeniable: that Cuba is finally opening up to Cubans themselves. And that Cubans have a date with freedom.

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In addition, they invite each sympathizer to bring a rose to a monument to a Cuban martyr whenever they deem it appropriate and safe, and documenting the act to spread it, since Archipiélago considers that there is still “a debt of honor to the Apostle* José Martí.”

The platform launched its proposal in a statement released after midnight in which it took stock of the previous day. In the text, they emphasize that the Government has criminalized and disrespected the right to freedom of expression, assembly and demonstration recognized by the Cuban Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and, what is worse, setting “Cubans against Cubans.”

“The Cuban government has responded to our demands as a dictatorship does: extreme militarization of the streets, more than 100 activists besieged [in their homes], arbitrary arrests, forced disappearances, acts of repudiation, violence, threats, coercion and hate speech,” denounces the text, which warns that it will not accept this escalation of violence against peaceful citizens.

Despite all the efforts of the authorities, Archipiélago considers that the March was a success due to the solidarity received from 120 cities around the world and those who were able to go out into the streets within the Island or show their adherence to the mobilization with a minimal gesture. “We have surpassed ourselves as a nation and here is the resounding success of 15N”.

The objectives of the struggle that continues from today until the 27th continue to be the initial ones: the liberation of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, respect for the rights of expression, assembly and demonstration, the cessation of violence between Cubans for political reasons ,and the beginning of a dialogue that allows resolving differences through democratic and peaceful means.

In addition, the end of the statement opens a door so that the 27th is not the last day of activities. “If the Government does not give up its efforts to violate our rights, we will continue the civic struggle until Cuba is a State of Rights, a Republic ‘with all and for the good of all’.”

The platform notes that since the 16th, many people linked to the opposition are still unaccounted for, detained or besieged in their homes and sends its solidarity to all those affected.

For its part, the Cubalex Legal Information Center published this Tuesday a record in which it documents the arrests of at least 56 people in the context of civic days for change, of these 27 just on November 15, and they include 11 people reported in enforced disappearance.

Of the more than 50 people arrested, “11 were previously in detention for participating in the 11J [11 July] protests,” details Cubalex.

*Translator’s note: José Martí is considered a hero by Cubans on all sides of the divides, and is popularly called “the Apostle.”
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“It does not seem acceptable to us that credentials are withdrawn for no reason. Freedom of the press in any country in the world is vital,” Albares emphasized.

The head of Spanish diplomacy stressed that they have not received “any” explanation from the Cuban authorities about the measure against the Efe team in Havana, adding that “we have simply managed to have two credentials returned and we are waiting for them to return the others.”

The decision of the Cuban authorities occurs at a delicate moment in the country, with a Civic March called by the opposition for this Monday, a march that has been outlawed by the Government.

On Saturday, the heads of the International Press Center (CPI) of Cuba urgently summoned the Efe team in Havana that is currently accredited — three editors, a photographer and a TV camera operator — to inform them that their credentials were withdrawn without clarifying whether the measure is temporary or permanent.

But this Sunday they restored the press accreditations to only two of Efe’s journalists in Havana.

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Attending the debate in the Assembly as a guest was Alejandro González Raga, former political prisoner of Cuba’s 2003 Black Spring and director of the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights, based in the Spanish capital, who was greeted from the podium by the popular deputy Almudena Negro before initiating the defense of the proposal.

In his speech, Negro recalled the protests of July 11 on the island, repressed by the dictatorial regime established by “the infamous Fidel Castro and the homophobic Che Guevara,” as well as the frustrated initiative of 15N (15 November), which was prevented and delegitimized by a “criminal and corrupt dictatorship” that has plunged  “70% of the population” into poverty.

“The communist project in Cuba has failed, as always happens with any socialist project wherever it is established,” said the deputy, who demanded that the Spanish left not be “in profile” like President Pedro Sánchez, who “avoided referring to to Cuba for what it is,” and to stop claiming that the regime is not true socialism. “What happens in Cuba is real socialism,” he asserted, “and that is why there is hunger, misery and crime.”

“It cannot be that free society looks away,” he demanded, and criticized the legitimacy granted to Cuba and other authoritarian governments such as Nicaragua or Venezuela by organizations such as Celac (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States), which, he said, contributes to the “expansion of liberty-cide in America.”

Almudena Negro also had words for some of those persecuted by the regime, such as Raúl Rivero, recently deceased, Guillermo Coco Fariñas and Yunior García Aguilera, whom she welcomed to Madrid, and concluded her speech with the slogans: “Viva Cuba libre, patria y vida.”

In defense of several amendments to the proposal, the deputy for the right-wing party Vox, Rocío Monasterio, the daughter of a Cuban from Cienfuegos, spoke more harshly. Thus, he referred to communism as the “most pernicious ideology in the history of mankind.”

In this regard, she said that she met with some of the former prisons who were Cuban plantados who were in Madrid to present the homonymous film by Lilo Vilaplana, who told her what they were told when entering Cuban prisons: you will cease to exist as of today . “This is communism: to cease to exist,” said Monasterio, who referenced the more than 600 political prisoners from 11J (11 July). “Political prisoners must be released, unconditionally, immediately,” she demanded.

The right-wing deputy also criticized the “traditional parties”, alluding to the PP and the PSOE, which, in her opinion, “have contributed by action or omission” to the perpetuation of the Cuban dictatorship.

“Why are they refusing to sign the suspension of the cooperation?” was one of Monasterio complaints from the PP, and the party also proposed to refuse to collaborate in any investment with Cuban state companies and declare an embargo on the weapons purchased by the Cuban State.

On the part of the leftist group Más Madrid (a moderate split from Podemos), Hugo Martínez Abarca asserted that his party “does not support any dictatorship, without any exception, without any nuance” and that it rejects “the violation of rights that is taking place in Cuba.”

As a solution, they propose a “multilateral diplomacy” and a return to the policies of President Barack Obama, the architect of the thaw with the island between 2014 and 2016, “that produces a democratic transition to Cuba.” However, they also ask for the “end of the blockade,” which they consider “inhuman” and “unjust.” Más Madrid, ultimately, abstained in the vote.

Podemos voted  openly against the proposal. For his part, Congressman Jacinto Morano said that the resolution was “support for international interference in Cuban politics.”

Next, he detailed the arguments that Cuban officialdom usually uses in defense of the Revolution: the United States embargo that “keeps the island impoverished” – although he wrongly dated it in 1959, and not in 1960 – the “900 doctors for every 100,000 inhabitants, “health missions” in 59 countries, including refugee camps in Western Sahara “and free education” from birth.

Finally, the PSOE, which abstained from voting, criticized that the People’s Party “are determined to talk about whatever it is, less to talk about Madrid” and that what their group wants is “to talk about Madrid.”
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“This is an individual, civic and totally peaceful demonstration. It’s my response to what is happening here in Cuba,” Gonzalez says to the camera as she walks. She recalls the more than 600 prisoners arrested during or after demonstrations July 11, including artists Alcantara and Osorbo, who she says remain in prison “in very poor condition,” as well as 15-year-old Reniel Rodriguez, who was placed in a center for problem youth for having participated in the July 11 protests.

Rodriguez was released on Thursday in the wake of strong criticism on social media and pressure from international organizations. Barely two minutes into the video a passerby greets her. She asks him, “Do you want to join me? I’m demonstrating.”

The man smiles, waves and says hello to the camera. “Oh, good. Me too,” he quickly responds before continuing on his way. Later in the video someone stops to say, “All the solidarity this has generated is incredible.”

The activist relates how, earlier that day, a woman stopped to tell Gonazalez she herself could not do anything because she would lose her job but that she stood with all those of us who are demanding freedom, human rights and the release of political prisoners.

Gonzalez states that recording herself on her phone provides a level of protection and asks all her followers to stay connected until she ends the transmission.

“I am not going to encourage anyone to do what I’m doing because this is something that takes conviction. You have to have a clear head,” she insists. “I am very clear-headed and I am not going to quit, not in Cuba, not in Sant Clara, where State Security might be the most dangerous.” During her walk, she does not indicate where she is going to avoid incidents such as those that occurred on the 14th and 15th when she was confronted by women who, she says, “do not represent us.”

On Monday and for several days prior, flags of the Federation of Cuban Women were on display outside her home in Santa Clara as members of the organization shouted insults at her.

“I want to contribute to my country. I want to contribute to efforts for a better Cuba. This is my country and I have rights too,” says Gonzalez just as she arrives at her destination, the statue of Antonio Maceo, where she lays her flower and quickly leaves.

After the regime used threats, acts of repudiation and the militarization of cities to disrupt the Civic March for Change, Archipiélago called for peaceful protests to continue. It urged would-be protesters to applaud, bang pots or wear white clothing until November 27. The date marks the one-year anniversary of a sit-in involving more than 300 people in front of the Ministry of Culture. Subsequently, about thirty participants met with Deputy-Minister Fernando Rojas.

One of Archipiélago’s most visible members, playwright Yunior Garcia Aguilera, left Cuba for Spain on Tuesday. The group has offered no explanation for his departure. Saily Gonzalez was one of the members who publicly demonstrated after the march in solidarity with Garcia Aguilera. “I don’t think anyone has the right to judge or criticize what Yunior did. We are not the ones to judge or condemn,” she said.

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The young man does not accept that they are trying to discredit him by calling him a “counterrevolutionary”: “I am a revolutionary because I want to change the dynamics of my country.”

The activist has recounted the harassment to which he was subjected in recent days, at which time, convinced that he would be arrested, he applied for a preemptive visa with which he tried to achieve some type of subsequent negotiation that would help him get out of prison. However, after November 15, when he had been isolated and incommunicado for hours, he was aware that the Government did not intend to arrest him.

“If they kill me they make me a symbol, if they take me to jail they make me a symbol,” he said. It was at that moment that he realized, he says, that the Government was planning to keep him away from society by keeping him locked up in his home, a situation that he could not bear. “They yelled insults at me and I felt like a Jew surrounded by Nazis.”

“If the only thing I have is my voice and they take it from me, then they have won,” said García, who stressed that a “living death” awaited him in Cuba. Illustratively, he has recounted the day he suffered an act of repudiation that included bird corpses on the fence of his house and has used the image as a metaphor. “If we stay in Cuba they will behead us like doves,” he said.

The opponent has repeatedly declared his intention to return after overcoming his anger at recent events. “I need to heal myself from that rage to start the fight again, and that will be when my life and that of my wife are not in danger.”

García Aguilera has repeated that he refuses to request asylum in Spain and has said that Cuba is his country and his mother and son are there, so it does not even cross his mind to stay in Madrid in the long term.

The playwright says: “I have a 90-day visa and during my stay I am going to connect with artists and focus on the movement of Cuban artists here.”

The founder of Archipiélago has revealed that on the 14th, despite having his phone cut off, he found a means of communication through which he got in touch with the cardinal of Havana, whom he asked to pray for him because he was afraid of having rage. “I needed to heal my anger to find my balance. I never wanted to stop being tolerant.”

In the same way, he has confessed to reading “painful things” about him once he was able to access the internet after landing in Spain, and apologizes to his colleagues from Achipiélago for not being able to bear more pressure. “I have to forgive myself for being human and apologize for not being made of stone or bronze,” he added.

García Aguilera has also rejected the US embargo, which he believes acts as an ally of the regime by providing it excuses, and has vindicated the use of dialogue with all political forces if the time comes.

The opponent, who has been moved by talking about his 10-year-old son, has begged the international press to look for the stories of anonymous Cubans who have not had the luck that he has had, being able to leave the island thanks to his visibility.

He has also referenced the names of José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, visible head of the San Isidro Movement, Félix Navarro, of the group of 75, and Maykel Castillo Osorbo.

García Aguilera took the opportunity to close the press conference with a message calling on the international community to help. Thus, he opined that “it is inadmissible for Cuba to have a chair on the UN Human Rights Commission.”

At the same time he rejected, for the umpteenth time, an armed intervention. “A Cuba for all cannot be achieved through violence, but through dialogue. They believe that this fight is won through blows.”

“Let us not get angry,” he asked. “This cannot become a bloodbath. It is the only way we have to get out of this, because we cannot continue to be slaves. But we cannot achieve freedom at that price either,” he said. “A bloodbath can only be avoided if the world stops looking the other way.”

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Another new element in the proposed Code addresses “assisted reproduction,” which opens the door to surrogate wombs, although the official press does not refer to it by this name. In this regard, González Ferrer explained that the regulation of “solidarity gestation” is still being outlined to avoid “the exploitation or use of women’s bodies and against the trafficking of children.”

The so-called surrogacy, which consists of implanting a fertilized egg in a “surrogate” woman, who has no biological relationship with the future child, is a very controversial option, allowed in very few countries. It is only regulated in Canada, some states of the USA, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Greece, the United Kingdom, Australia and India, and is subject to many conditions.

In the case of this version of the Cuban Family Code, the authorities assure that they will protect “that future pregnant woman from the psychological effects that may arise from carrying a child that is not hers,” as González Ferrer pointed out.

“To give just one example, the ovum that is going to be fertilized will never belong to that pregnant woman, unless she is going to be part of a multi-parental project,” she declared in Cubadebate.

The official media notes that the regulation of solidarity gestation “requires specific legal norms that go beyond the family sphere,” specifically gynecological and obstetric issues (which they do not mention here either). That is why, as they say, they are working on “special binding rules and protocols” with the Ministry of Health.

This new version also mentions “post mortem artificial insemination,” an option that allows a widow to be inseminated by her “spouse or partner” for a period of up to one year after death.

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The regimes fell into the classic vicious circle: the peaceful opposition urged a dialogue demanding internationally recognized basic rights — freedom of expression, assembly and association — and the government responded with more abuse, beatings, rigged trials, violent arrests against protesters who were trying to exercise rights guaranteed by law, while the authorities violated their own constitutions. While the opposition presented a message of hope and tolerance for all, the authorities insisted on the continuity of an obviously failed system.

The opposition responded against Pinochet in Chile with the No Campaign in the plebiscite; in Poland with the workers’ strikes and the sermons in the churches; in Prague with concerts, performances and banned songs at the Green Lantern; in Lithuania with the chain of thousands of people shaking hands from one end to the other of their small country, which had suffered the Nazi and Russian occupation.

The Polish general Wojciech Jaruzelski understood in time what was good for his country as well as for himself and his family. He sent to the prison for Lech Walesa, the leading electrician of the Polish workers, to talk and seek solutions. Some accused Walesa of treason for meeting with the tyrant.

Years later, Walesa himself told me in Warsaw that, when he arrived at the meeting, the dictator general asked him why he did not sit down. His response was that he could not hold a conversation until the political prisoners were released. That was the beginning, and when the dictator, believing his own propaganda, agreed to call elections, convinced that the opposition would get no more than 30% of the vote, the Polish people overwhelmingly chose the opposition. Later, Walesa became president and received the Nobel Prize. Poland won and Jaruzelski did too, as he remained in his country undisturbed; where he died years later.

In the case of South Africa, something very similar happened. Nelson Mandela, a Marxist and promoter of revolutionary violence, was serving a long sentence on Robben Island for his terrorist activities. When he opted for non-violent struggle (which Mahatma Ghandi had used to defeat the British Empire in India), the demonstrations in Soweto and international sanctions led South African President FW de Klerk, leader of the South African apartheid government, to give in, realizing that the situation was untenable.

South African leaders and their families were already outcasts who could not even travel to the world’s most important capitals, and the world’s leading artists boycotted the Pretoria regime.

Then, the two enemies met. The racist dictatorship ended with the repeal of the apartheid system. Multi-party elections were held. The world suspended sanctions against South Africa. The transition was not easy, and South African politics remain difficult. But de Klerk and Mandela made the change. Together they received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Mandela was elected president of South Africa in 1994. When he served his term, he retired and other younger politicians were elected to direct the destinies of the country. Mandela died at the age of 95 in South Africa, in 2013. De Klerk lived the rest of his days quietly in Pretoria and has just died (on November 11th) at the age of 85.

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News footage from November 15 showed the streets of the capital in a state of calm and the regime successfully managing to maintain control. This led some reporters, such as CNN’s Patrick Oppmann, to ask, “Why aren’t Cubans coming out to protest?” In contrast Euronews broadcast images not only of large-scale police deployments but of arrests of protestors shouting demands for freedom and democracy as well as arrests of well-known opposition figures such as Manuel Cuesta Morua, Guillermo Fariñas and Berta Soler.

To be fair, the qualified response I would give to Oppmann’s question would be the same as his: “This time the Cuban government had time to prepare.”

When my daughter called me from Ecuador several days earlier to ask what I thought would happen, I replied with a popular saying I had often heard in childhood: “Soldiers forewarned of an attack don’t get killed.” The events of July 11 were a social eruption that took not only the government but most of its opponents by surprise. There was no need for a nationwide call to protest. It started in just one town and quickly spread throughout the country thanks to social media.

Months before the July 11 protests, some Cuban exiles in Miami tried to convene something similar. I wrote in an article, “Social eruptions are not convened.” Nevertheless, it was clear to me that it would not take much to set one off. That is why, when the Cuban government alleged that the explosive protests were planned by the CIA and Cubans living in south Florida, I laughed.

But in the case of November 15, the fact that the results were not as hoped cannot be explained solely on the fact that the government had been forewarned. It was also because the planned protest was not well-timed. The wounds from last July’s repression had not yet healed and numerous protesters remained in prison.

This reminded me of the so-called Little War in the 19th century, which began very shortly after the Ten Years War. It took some time afterwards for Jose Marti, as head of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, to prepare for the final struggle that would lead to independence. The difference here, of course, is one of time. What took years to accomplish back then can now be achieved in a few days, thanks largely to technology.

July 11 also fell on a Sunday, a day when most workers and students were at home. The results are not the same on a weekday. Many find it inconvenient to leave work or school to join an anti-government demonstration, whether it is formally planned or not.

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven,” says Ecclesiastes. The Cuban peasant was very patient and always knew exactly when his crops should be harvested, when the moon was perfect and, in the meantime, watered and cared for his plants. Our own fruit, to paraphrase Jose Marti, requires a natural and arduous gestation period. For now, it’s maturing.
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Passenger transport by bus accounted for 62% of conventional means and 47% of the total. The alternative is a train that does not offer guaranteed departures or arrivals, and that meets 0.2% of the demand. Finally, travel by means of an ox or horse cart, the so-called animal traction, reached 27% of the total, in the official statistics of the ONEI.

This being the case, mobility is a failure of the model, because all the service goes through the state, which has to invest in the purchase of buses, but also in terminals, spare parts, technology, internet, etc. So much so that, in the end, we have bitten off more than we can chew.

Now that the nation is beginning to regain a certain normality after the COVID-19 pandemic that required people be immobilized, the transport sector is showing a series of deficiencies and is unable to meet the increasing demand.

Changing the model is not possible. Cubans will not be able to buy cars, as in other countries, to achieve their free and independent mobility. The state will continue to provide the service under a monopoly regime. With known deficiencies. So what can we expect from all of this?

Little or nothing. An article in Cubadebate entitled “Interprovincial transport: a service on wheels?”explain some interesting things.

The authorities have set to work starting where they always have: service planning. An activity that consumes time and effort, and then leads to nothing because the plans are not met. And so, for example, it is found that of 19 planned departures in a terminal, only 9 left in these first days of the return to normality.

This is a good a priori data. That there is more supply than demand is a rarity in the Cuban economy where the usual thing is that there is a deficit, a shortage and this requires rationing.

So, how is it possible that interprovincial transport has these results? It seems it is due to planning errors. Those responsible decided to launch the same departures as before the pandemic, and of course, things have changed and no one seems to have realized it. The state planner to his own.

Produce routines, orders and processes, and then make mistakes. The reason is simple. The planner has no idea of the needs of the market. He plans because it is his thing, but he has never studied marketing in his life, nor does he base his calculations on market studies. Not interested. His goal is the plan. And we see the results. Routes and more routes, and then the buses do not leave or they go empty.

And above all, they believe that acting in this way is correct, even when it is recognized that they still do not cover most of the demand. In other words, they are committed to programming services that have less demand than supply, and there are others that are neglected. The state planner to his own.

Which is precisely not listening to people and attending to their needs. What for? Everyone’s salary will be charged regardless of the service and profits of the company. The state will cover the losses with subsidies and start over. And so we get to the source of the problem. The provision of transportation service by the state generates a perverse dynamic of dependence of this activity on the subsidies of the regime. Precisely when in the rest of the countries of the world, passenger transport is private, either with people’s own cars, or through private transport companies that earn money from the services they provide.

The directors of the state transport companies live calmly, because the consumer is not the king. And if they complain, it can be worse. They obey another monarch, the communist party, which arbitrarily and with political criteria, says what has to be done, and what does not.

And this is the second derivative of the problem. The first, state provision, the second communist interference. And with these ingredients, you have to think about how the basket that is manufactured is going to come out: of course, badly and full of holes.

Added to this are the problems derived from the lack of profitability, such as the lack of investment in new buses or in spare parts for tires or batteries, among others, which makes it impossible to respond quickly to unexpected increases in demand.

And if the bus is a failure, however you look at it, the railroad is even worse. The low use of this means of transport by passengers is due to the absolute neglect of the authorities. The design of the network, for example, has hardly changed from what existed before 1959.

On the other hand, private transport through the formal and informal ride-sharing system is used by the population, but since it is a sector regulated and intervened in by the state, it prevents an efficient provision of services, as it could be verified when the Ordering Task* came into effect and official rates were applied.

In the midst of this panorama, something appears that has caught the attention of analysts in relation to transport, and it is the spectacular increase in prices. The measurement of the inflation rate of the Cuban economy by ONEI, as of this October (latest published data) places the increase in the general price level at 66.3%, one of the highest in Latin America.

But if inflation has risen significantly, the component of the index that has risen the most has been, curiously, Transport, nothing more and nothing less than 174.7%, more than double the average, and a three-digit rate that is alarming due to its intensity, and above all, because it has an effect on the prices of other goods and services.

Thus, the return to normality in the last three weeks has coincided with a spectacular increase in transport prices and, perhaps because of this, demand is contained and does not reach pre-pandemic levels. The communists disdain the market and the laws of supply and demand, but one day they will have no choice but to recognize that they work and work much better than that silly planning that from year to year produces defaults and failures.

The highlight of this outbreak of inflation is that it starts from a time when demand was contained. Its origin is in production costs (energy) and is explained by the measures adopted in the Ordering Task, which have moved the Cuban economy away from the price stability that it had been experiencing until 2019.

With the diminished purchasing power of wages and pensions, and a low capacity to save, Cubans will reduce their demand for transport if prices do not return to levels compatible with the purchasing power of the population. And that would bring a greater need for state subsidies for companies, which goes against the Ordering Task. The transport sector is thus trapped in a vicious circle from which it will not easily escape, and the responsibility for this is squarely on the regime.

As indicated in the Cubadebate report, communists always blame others for their failures, they are incapable of taking responsibility for the country’s economic disaster. Now it is unscrupulous individuals who raise prices to take advantage of people.

Messages of the style that people take advantage of the situation, of problems, to earn money, go against the rationality of economic activity and are a populist hindrance that does not help to solve a problem which, like many others in Cuba is arranged with more freedom and choice. Transportation is a sector that should be privatized in its entirety.

*Translator’s note: Tarea ordenamiento = The [so-called] ‘Ordering Task’ which is a collection of measures that includes eliminating the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), leaving the Cuban peso as the only national currency, raising prices, raising salaries (but not as much as prices), opening stores that take payment only in hard currency which must be in the form of specially issued pre-paid debit cards, and others. 

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