It certainly seems like the communist Castro dictatorship, which is at its weakest point ever, is running scared. After seeing the mass discontent its announced price hikes for basic items generated across the island, the regime is backing off its plans to raise prices on fuel and transportation right before they were about to take effect. Cuba is a tinderbox, and it is obvious the Cuban dictatorship is not confident it can survive another mass uprising like the one that took place in July 2021.
Regime continues to back off its economic package: public transportation prices to remain the same
The current price for public transportation will remain “for the time being,” reported official media journalist Lázaro Manuel Alonso on his Facebook profile. The government spokesperson specified that the announcement applied to local and interprovincial bus transportation, as well as catamarans between the island of Cuba and the Isle of Youth, trains, and planes.
“The current prices will be maintained until the fuel prices are updated,” Alonso emphasized.
The postponement of the increase in transportation prices comes 24 hours after the government delayed the implementation of the main measure of the economic package announced at the end of 2023: the over 500% increase in fuel prices.
It was revealed on Wednesday that Cuban authorities had postponed the fuel price update and its trading in foreign currency through service center networks, allegedly due to a cybersecurity incident in the computer systems for trading, as reported by the official media outlet Cubadebate.
Mildrey Granadillo, Cuba’s Deputy Minister of Economy and Planning, stated that the cybersecurity incident was caused by a computer virus from abroad, which is currently under investigation.
As a result, the price update and trading in foreign currency, originally scheduled to start on February 1, were postponed until “conditions are created” for their implementation.
At the end of 2023, the Cuban government announced an economic shock plan that includes increases in fuel prices, electricity, water, and other services, as well as the end of the universal subsidy for rationed food.
During a recent intervention before the Economic Affairs Committee of the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP), Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged that this decision would affect various areas of the island’s economy.
“When we raise the price of fuel, some services and prices will increase,” emphasized the also First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC).
This Wednesday, Cuban economist Pedro Monreal stated on social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that the over 500% increase in fuel prices on the island might have been reconsidered due to its impact on retail trade and, consequently, the overall economy.
The specialist believes that “perhaps there has been a second official reflection on the possible ‘butterfly effect’ of the rise in fuel prices on general inflation.”
Whatever the regime does or does not do, the overriding motive is always the same–to stay in power.
I’m shocked they did this. It must be to stay in power and make the people suffer more in the long run.