In September 2023 was my last report on the economic, political and social situation in Cuba. The truth is that different personal circumstances led me to be a little away from content creation. And although I gradually picked it up later, I left this series on pause. Speaking and being critical of the reality of Cuba and the government that controls it is not a grateful task, especially when it is done from within the country. The emotional exhaustion is high, since one has to delve into the endless injustices that are committed and the needs suffered by the most vulnerable.
Although the political situation has not changed (the repression and imprisonment of opponents and critical voices for common causes continues to avoid the term of political prisoners), the social and economic aspect has worsened. The shortage of medicines has worsened and the increase in the value of food has skyrocketed due to low national production, seriously affected by the lack of supplies and fuel. The government rhetoric is to blame the entire painful economic, political and social situation in Cuba on the economic embargo of the United States on the island. In official words, this always worsens even though the Biden administration has not implemented any new sanctions, having relaxed some others.
The sanctions on the Cuban dictatorship have their impact on part of the conglomerate of state companies. However, the weight of the Cuban economic disaster falls on the terrible financial decisions and atrocious management of investments within the economy by the ruling communist caste. Otherwise it cannot be explained that in a country surrounded by the sea there is no stable availability of salt or that sugar production (previously one of the main exporters) has been destroyed to such a degree that it cannot even satisfy the nation's internal demand. scope. The most visible face of communist incompetence (or corruption) is in the digital currency MLC (freely convertible currency) that sought to maintain 1:1 support with the dollar. Today, the dollars deposited in the MLC accounts were already spent by the Cuban government even before customers used their balance; basically it is a promissory note without backing and without convertibility that can only be used in certain stores.
Recently, and perhaps what motivated me to rewrite this report on the economic, political and social situation in Cuba, the minister of economy was dismissed after a 500% increase in fuel and bus ticket prices was postponed. national transportation. This cancellation until further notice was not caused by popular discontent, it was due (according to government sources) to a computer virus. Therefore, the increase will occur “when the conditions are created.” However, the first negative effects were already felt as there was a price increase in private transportation that is not expected to decrease to previous levels for the moment, causing an indirect increase in other goods and services. This is also due to the fuel shortage, which is so evident that they have started the cycle of general blackouts in the country again. The Cuban communist totalitarian government has no credibility with the population, if new general demonstrations do not occur it is due to preventive repression and massive migration (more than 500 thousand Cubans in the last 2 years, around 5% of the population) that It continues today.
The value of the dollar has reached 292 cups today, bringing pensions to a misery of 5.17 USD per month, the minimum wage to 7.19 dollars per month and the general average of the country only reaching 14.38 USD in the same period of time.
If the economic, political and social situation in Cuba was not encouraging 6 months ago, it is much worse now. Meanwhile, the communist political oligarchy only takes measures aimed at guaranteeing power and economic benefits for their figureheads and family members.
This is all for today Cuba: Inside View, thanks for reading, and remember that you can check the other reports here: