MIAMI, United States. – Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez criticized the recent economic measures announced by the island’s regime, especially the new offensive against the non-state sector and the partial dollarization of the economy.
On his blog, Second datethe Cuban musician gathered opinions from several pro-government economists and then stated: “As he said Fidel “Only we ourselves can destroy this. It is sad to see it, but I think that is what is happening. If we do not quickly dismantle what is holding us back, we will be swallowed up by our own creations. They are already chewing us up. Let us wake up.”
The Cuban musician also acknowledged: “There are so many bureaucratic obstacles that I know have been faced by several potential investors who have given up on undertaking projects because of the delays imposed by the government. I am not going to go into details, but this occurs both in foreign investments and in ideas from intelligent and creative Cubans who have not wanted to leave, who continue to bet on their country, who have spent years trying to do things that would be beneficial to us, but which a sick bureaucracy does not allow to be done,” he added.
Rodriguez also criticized the inefficiency of the current system: “We put together a complicated apparatus that at one point seemed to work, but now it is a burden. That is why I said in [la canción] Be a lady:When wings become ironwork / it is time to make the journey again / to the seed of José Martí.”
Before publishing his opinions, the author of Hopefully had shared an email chain with assessments by pro-government economists.
Among the harshest criticisms is that of Juan Triana Cordovía doctor in Economics and a professor at the Center for Cuban Economic Studies at the University of Havana, who considered that it is necessary to “delve deeper into the causes” of the Cuban economic “disaster.”
“For eight years, the Cuban government has concentrated (35% of the total) investment in hotels and has neglected investment in agriculture, fishing, the sugar cane industry and the food industry, as well as in energy,” said the economist.
“It is very regrettable that the president does not acknowledge his personal responsibility and that of the government in this decision,” he added.
Triana Cordoví also blamed the authorities for having spent “nine years saying that foreign investment should be made more flexible” while “the same problems” persist.
“All the ‘obstacles’ are identified and the measures proposed (a working group was created for this and in fact they are mentioned in a speech by Rodrigo [Malmierca]when I was Minister of Foreign Trade) but nothing was done,” he said. “Proposals to make state enterprises more flexible can fill drawers of paperwork, but our state enterprise is worse off today,” he added.
In his text, the economist also pointed out that it would be a “tragic mistake” to return to a process of greater centralization. “In Cuba, no company decides what to invest in on its own, except GAESA. All real investment and resource allocation decisions for operations are made at the highest levels of government, starting with foreign exchange. Indeed, the return to closed foreign exchange financing schemes is a recognition of the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of centralized resource allocation,” he said.
He also considered it “a shame” that “year after year the president and his ministers go to the Assembly to recount the disasters that their erroneous policies have caused and ask the people for more sacrifices, but it is even more shameful that the people’s deputies (because they are our deputies) continue to accept this situation.”
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