In its never-ending efforts to finance its stranglehold on power by fleecing the Cuban people, the communist Castro dictatorship is raising public transportation prices by 180%. This massive price hike for public transportation is combined with a 500% increase in gasoline prices, leaving Cubans will practically no affordable options for transportation. This is socialism in action.
Cubans will pay more for public transportation starting in March
The economic adjustment plan announced by the Cuban government at the end of December continues to take shape to the detriment of the population’s purchasing power. This Tuesday, on the Mesa Redonda television program, the increase in transportation fares in its various modes was announced. The Minister of Transportion, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, and the Deputy Minister of Finance and Prices, Lourdes Rodríguez Ruiz, appeared on the show.
Both officials specified that the main price hikes will affect interprovincial transportation, where prices will skyrocket by 180%.
According to Rodríguez Dávila, the goal is to maintain prices for urban, suburban, interurban, easily accessible rural, difficult-access rural transportation, and boats, which are used by “the majority of the population daily for commuting to work or school.”
The official explained that “buses will continue to cost two pesos in Havana and one peso in the provinces,” and that “all local train fares will remain the same.”
However, the same will not apply to interprovincial transportation, where fares will nearly triple from the current price. In this regard, Rodríguez Dávila exemplified that a trip to Santiago de Cuba, currently costing 255 pesos, will rise to 717 pesos; while the one to Guantánamo will increase from 280 to 786 pesos.
Another substantial increase will be seen in domestic flight prices, with hikes between 300% and 500%.
The official also mentioned the prices for “gacelas” and tricycles. In the case of the former service, offered in Havana and Santiago de Cuba, the price will increase from five pesos per trip to 10 pesos, while for electric tricycles, the complete journey will rise from four pesos to 10.
Regarding combustion-engine tricycles, where the rate is 2.50 per passenger per kilometer and different rates were previously set in each province depending on the route, it will now be 3.50 per passenger per kilometer.
In other local transportation systems like Transmetro, the price will increase from five pesos to 10 pesos per trip.
When asked about private transporters, Rodríguez Dávila stated that they will be subject to “the same wholesale price that state entities will pay.” He also made it clear that these private transporters “must have their transportation operating license and comply with the prices agreed upon with provincial governments.”
On the other hand, the Deputy Minister of Finance and Prices of the Cuban government expressed that the overall increase in transportation prices is due to the rise in fuel costs in the country. The official explained that when determining the transportation price hike, it is influenced not only by fuel prices but also by other factors like “the tightening of the blockade” and international inflation, which increases key transportation elements such as tires, batteries, parts, and spare pieces.
This is for the “diaspora” to deal with, so don’t worry about it. Those who don’t have a “diaspora” connection are of no importance anyway, since they don’t bring in real money and are a burden on the “revolution.”