Prime Minister warns that imports of luxury cars will be controlled
14ymedio, Havana, 18 July 2024 — A black and white, 650-horsepower Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 parked in front of a shabby house in El Guaso, Guantánamo. A brand-new Rubicon jeep moving through the outskirts of Morón, in Ciego de Ávila. A brand-new Mercedes-Benz, which a soldier “on foot” looks at in amazement as he turns a corner in Havana where someone has painted a sign: “Fidel among us.”
“They are on board,” said Prime Minister Manuel Marrero on Wednesday, referring to the owners of luxury cars. “Haven’t they realized that the gasoline in Cuba is not good for that?” he concluded, in a joking tone, before launching a warning: “There are some cars that are coming in that are really not compatible with our society, they are not necessary, and we have to limit the amount based on the interests of the country.”
In Cuba, known around the world for its vintage cars – actually survivors of a shortage of parts and vehicles after 1959 – there are hundreds of luxury cars in circulation, as confirmed by car enthusiast groups on Facebook. They started out as “diplomatic” cars, since only embassy personnel drove vehicles of that calibre, but the term was extended to all types of recently imported cars, which no longer go unnoticed.
They started out as “diplomatic” cars, as only embassy personnel drove vehicles of that caliber, but the term was extended to all types of cars.
“We have regulated how the importing of vehicles into the country should be,” Marrero began, describing in his speech the “new policy for the transfer of ownership of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, their commercialization or importation,” of which all the details are not yet known.
The State decreed, first of all, that all vehicle sales within the Island – including used bodies – will be made in national currency. Only the state-owned company Servicios Automotores will be able to import and sell car and motorcycle parts in foreign currency, but “exclusively as replacement parts.”
Diplomats, Cubans on “missions” and Cuban businessmen abroad will be able to continue importing cars from abroad, he added. However, there will be “requirements to guarantee technical compatibility” so that the cars that enter the country do not “melt down.”
According to Marrero, the transfer of ownership of a vehicle is authorized. The Government welcomes the importation of tricycles – “it helps a lot with the needs,” he added – in which the current Minister of Transport, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, has placed his hopes. “These regulations are in the process of being implemented,” he clarified.
The circulation of luxury cars in Cuba began as a rumor – the first photos of a Tesla or a Lamborghini were fake – but it is now a fact. Camajuaní, the mecca of Cuban footwear in Villa Clara and where shoemakers – converted into elite SMSEs – have built real mansions, is a good example of the proliferation of “diplomats.” This newspaper collected images of recently imported cars – such as a Mercedes-Benz with a private license plate, parked in the peripheral neighborhood of La Ceiba – by shoemaking families such as the Chávez, the Cintra or the Fernández.
But it is in Facebook groups, such as Diplomatic Cars in Cuba , where the wide circulation of these vehicles – often without license plates – is best evidenced. In this type of group, advertisements for the sale of high-end cars are also published, such as a 2019 Dodge Challenger whose owner gave a full demonstration on a track and demanded that payment be made in the United States.
Fans warn of the many drawbacks to maintaining such a vehicle in Cuba, including a lack of fuel and the poor state of the roads. While one user praised the power of his Aston Martin, another pointed out the pothole in front of the wheels with a comment: “There we can see one of the many holes that will quickly destroy your very expensive suspension.”
Several collectors, even in the midst of the crisis, have the money not only to import new cars, but to restore old gems, such as the 1977 Pontiac Firebird whose photo was shared by a user. One of the enthusiasts knew the vehicle well and identified it as an old car from the Mexican Embassy in Havana during the 1980s. The diplomats, he reported, sold it to a wealthy family from Playa, and it was “missing” for years but has now been restored, it is not known by whom.
Many of these cars have been linked on numerous occasions to the families of the regime’s military leadership. Fidel Castro’s grandson, Sandro Castro , confirmed these suspicions in 2021, when he published a video while driving a Mercedes-Benz, which he described as his new “toy,” at 140 kilometers per hour.
The average Cuban – an expression that has reached its most literal meaning with the transportation crisis – without money to import the expensive “jeeps” to which Marrero referred, asks himself in groups only one question: “What do I have to do to be a diplomat?”
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
