In its desperation to remain in power, the communist Castro dictatorship has unleashed a new barrage of economic policies that batter an already beleaguered population. On top of the scarcity and shortages the Cuban people must endure, the regime is raising prices on the little there is, as much as 500%. The new policies have left the Cuban people in a situation they are labeling as “terrible, unbearable, and desperate.” This is socialism in action.
Via Martí Noticias (my translation):
Terrible, unbearable, infuriating… this is how Cubans are describing the new economic package
The so-called “paquetazo” [package] announced in December by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz at the National Assembly of People’s Power has already begun to be implemented.
On Monday, new retail prices for fuel were announced in the country, and on Tuesday, on the televised program “Mesa Redonda,” new rates for interprovincial transportation by bus, trains, catamarans, and planes were announced, set to take effect on March 1st, according to the Minister of Transportation, Eduardo Rodríguez.
This represents a significant increase in interprovincial transportation prices on the island, forcing Cubans to pay 180% more for these services.
Residents from various provinces expressed their discontent with the measure to Martí Noticias. “These are measures aimed at collapsing the supply of goods and services within the country; the price increase will worsen the current crisis, making the situation even more terrible,” said sociologist Ángel Marcelo Rodríguez Pita from Havana.
The entrepreneurship advisor believes there are clear issues with the state budget regarding funds for the services sector.
Economist Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello explained that these measures will trigger a chain reaction. “This will affect everything; those with a small business, who had a car for trips and supplying their business, will have to increase prices for all their merchandise, and so will it go, one thing after another, one thing after another, until living in Cuba becomes unbearable,” said the economist.
Adriano Castañeda, an independent communicator in Sancti Spíritus, explained that in that territory, most inter-municipal transportation is in private hands, and the “paquetazo” brought terrible news for most Cubans. “It will have great consequences for the common struggling Cuban, who suffers all the problems in Cuba,” warned the journalist.
Yoel Espinosa Medrano, from Santa Clara, commented on the increase in transportation and fuel prices: “This will generate an even bigger crisis because the price hike will directly impact the needy, those who have no means of transportation, and the price of gasoline will increase even more on the black market,” predicted the entrepreneur.
Espinosa stated that a round trip between Santa Clara and Havana costs around 40,000 pesos per person in private cars because there is not much availability in state transportation.
In the Arroyo Naranjo municipality in the capital, there was a substantial increase in private transportation costs on Wednesday, leading many Havana residents to take long walks to get to their workplaces, reported independent journalist Vladimir Turró. “Today, car fares have gone up; many are charging up to 250 pesos per person for the Arroyo Naranjo-La Habana route,” reported the independent journalist.
In Pinar del Río, Esteban Ajete Abascal highlighted that the railway service in the western part of the country is very deteriorated. “To be able to move, you have to spend a certain amount of money that the average Cuban does not have, so mobility within the island has become very difficult,” explained the farmer.
Miguel Ángel López Herrera, from Guantanamo, where historically it has been difficult to travel to other provinces, concluded that “all this is a bit more of the social, economic, and general breakdown of Cuban society, which is in a free fall.”
From Mayarí, in the Holguín province, Teresa Miranda Céspedes said that in her locality, “only trucks are available, and they charge an extremely high fare from here to Havana.”
“Tell me, now with this price hike, this will be a desperate situation; people will continue to get upset,” emphasized the opposition member.
Actually, this is socialism (which knows Cubans can’t pay for this) trying to extort the “diaspora” even more.