Transportation problems in Cuba
What is the price of dignity?
The new YouTube program, “Desde la Presidencia,” is dedicated to “providing information for reflecting, analyzing, and proposing solutions to the pressing problems in Cuban society,” as expressed by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. The third episode of the program, recorded on April 18, addresses the question, what is the situation of transportation in Cuba? Appearing with Díaz-Canel on the program was the Cuban Minister of Transportation, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila.
Díaz-Canel noted that the issue of the problems in transportation is related to questions that were addressed in the second episode on the problems of the Cuban economy. In the second episode, it was explained that the problems in the delivery of food have been caused by the intensification of the economic, commercial, and financial blockade beginning in 2014, which included more active implementation of the financial restrictions implied by the inclusion of Cuba on a list of countries that supposedly sponsor terrorism. The intensification of the blockade affected Cuban production, in that Cuba found itself unable to import key raw materials and supplies necessary for agricultural and industrial production. When Cuba, as a result, turned to the importation of food for the monthly food basket, it confronted insufficient foreign currency as well as the blocking of financial transactions. These dynamics affect not only food production and distribution, but also the transportation system.
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The April 18 episode reviewed the opinions of the people with respect to transportation, based on surveys in 121 of the country’s 168 cities and towns in all the nation’s provinces. The people are not satisfied with transportation for various reasons: difficulties in getting a bus; abusive prices in the private transportation sector; the lack of support by drivers of state cars, who do not stop to assist at bus stops with many persons waiting.
President Díaz-Canel asked Minister of Transportation Eduardo Rodríguez his view of the situation. Rodríguez observed that the transportation of passengers is in one of its worst moments in recent years. Approximately 5.8 or 5.9 million passengers were transported daily five years ago, but today only 2.7 million persons are being transported, because buses are paralyzed for lack of parts, or there is insufficient fuel. Half of the routes of the state buses are not functioning with stability, and many are currently being left to the private sector.
Rodríguez stated that there is a great dissatisfaction among the people with prices that are charged by private cars and vans. The elevated cost of private taxis and minibuses contributes to the general situation of inflation.
With respect to non-support by drivers of state vehicles (who have access to cars as a dimension of their employment in a state company, ministry, or department), the Minister noted that meetings have been held to address the problem, and fines have been imposed. However, “I have to recognize that this is an issue that we have not been able to resolve.” All the heads of the organisms need to be involved; “it is a display of apathy and of a lack of sensitivity in a difficult moment, although we do not see this as the solution to the problem of public transportation.”
In addition, Rodríguez noted, there is a lack of discipline by some persons, a lack of respect toward passengers. And there are drivers who do not follow the established route.
The Cuban president elaborated on the question of the social responsibility of the drivers of the state vehicles. Díaz-Canel noted that the question is related to the sensitivity of the drivers, but it also is related to the demands imposed on the drivers by department and division heads. “I think we need to deepen our discussion of the theme,” he observed. “We do not always have everywhere the leadership direction that we need, and we do not always have the elements of rigor in work.”
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Rodríguez described what he called four great distortions. (1) The transportation system (which includes land, sea, and air passenger and cargo transportation) is one of the most important generators of foreign currency in the country, but because of the economic situation, a good part of this income must be utilized to address the country’s priorities, and it is not available for use in the transportation system itself. Thus, the transportation system suffers from the lack of availability of foreign currency, preventing it from purchasing and importing necessary parts and fuel, including raw materials for Cuban production in the railway and aviation branches.
(2) The costs of the transportation services to the population are not covered by the tariffs for said services, nor by the state budget, which has a deficit. Therefore, there is no source of funds for the maintenance of the infrastructure. Rodríguez noted that the government is looking for alternatives for funding through the tax structure. It wants to resolve the problem in a way that does not result in inflation and that does not transfer the problem to the people.
(3) The third distortion is the high price of transportation in the private sector relative to the public. There are three factors in the price differential, rooted in the fact that state transportation companies operate with a structure of economic management different from the non-state companies. First, when the state purchases parts etc. in dollars, it buys at twenty-four pesos per dollar; but the private providers access the dollar through another market, which increases their costs by about 30%. Secondly, when the private providers do not have access to fuel, they acquire it in an irregular manner, which can cost ten times more than the gas station price. Thirdly, the salaries in the private sector are higher, because they are adjusted to the current inflationary situation. As a result of these factors, the prices are higher, and the people perceive the costs of the private providers as extremely expensive, since the collective taxis are charging 200 pesos for a trip that previously cost ten pesos. In addition to these factors, there are abusers, against whom the government is taking measures, including taking away licenses. This situation of widely different prices between private and public transportation must be attended, the Minister noted. On the horizon is the inclusion of a special market for licensed private drivers to buy tires and batteries at normal prices, and not the prices of the informal market. Ultimately, the problem will be resolved through greater access to fuel, lubricants, and spare parts in both private and public transportation.
(4) The fourth distortion, explained the Minister of Transportation, is related to the fact that the shortage of foreign currency in the country compels the distribution of planned funds in installments, which damages the operation of the transportation system, because it constantly has to wait for designated funds. The solution, the Minister noted, is to attain more foreign currency and to change some policies, such that funds for public transportation are available in a better, more rational manner. The Minister noted that proposed measures are presently being evaluated, including some that are connected to tolls, in order to provide funds for investment in the maintenance of the transportation system, without contributing to inflation and without affecting the needs of the population.
The President asked the Minister to explain projects of foreign investment in transportation. Rodríguez noted that foreign investment is advancing the modernization of transportation in renewable energy, reducing dependency on fossil fuel. Especially in those sectors of transportation that generate foreign currency, so that the investment is repaid. He mentioned Solineras, which are charging stations with photovoltaic panels that receive energy from the sun and are connected to the vehicle that moves the load. He also noted that 183 electric tricycles—which transport six persons plus the driver—are in service in cities and towns across the country, with 200 more in assembly, plus 300 more deliveries signed at the recent international transportation fair, which should be received this year. The President mentioned that small electronic buses are under construction in a factory in Sancti Spiritus. These are projects involving Cuban assemblage of electronic vehicles, with necessary parts and raw materials supplied through foreign investment. These projects are related to investments in the electrification of transportation.
The Minister of Transportation also addressed the issue of social communication. He noted that the President always has been speaking of this theme. It is not only a question of explaining what you are doing, but also centering your attention on how the things you are doing affect the population. To this end, a platform has been established, called Project Challenge, in which professionals of communication have been working with the Ministry of Transportation. Through this platform, when the Havana Bay tunnel was closed for repairs, for example. the platform provided information concerning various alternative routes, and the people participated by suggesting thirty-nine additional tasks for improvement, including the illumination and painting of the tunnel, which are now in the plan of work.
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Final considerations
First, without any shadow of a doubt, the recent problems in Cuba with respect to food distribution and transportation are primarily a consequence of the intensification of the blockade since the Trump Administration and the inclusion of Cuba on a unilateral and spurious list of countries that supposedly sponsor terrorism. (A secondary factor is the decline of Cuban and international tourism since 2019, due to the pandemic and war). Moreover, the level of development that Cuba had in 2019 was impressive—especially with respect to health, education, science, culture, and sport—but it was far lower than it would have been without the U.S. embargo, which was initiated in the early 1960s. Fidel proposed in 1959 and 1960 a continued relation with the USA, but a relation transformed on the basis of the principles of the sovereignty of nations and cooperation among nations, which was rejected out of hand by the USA without an iota of public discussion. If the USA, in the aftermath of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, had embraced Fidel’s call to construct a model of North-South cooperation, leaving neocolonialism behind, Cuba and the world would be very different today. (See “Fidel’s visit to the USA in 1959,” April 19, 2024).
The USA during these decades has played a perverse game of using its considerable economic and political might to stop Cuba from developing, and then blaming Cuban development plans for the limited economic progress of the country. Any activist or intellectual today who does not see through this perverse game plays into the hands of U.S. imperialism, unwittingly or by design.
Secondly, without any doubt, Cuba possesses the political will to continue on its sovereign, and therefore defiant, road. To be sure, the people are not satisfied with the material standard of living, and they complain about it; and some misguided souls pretend to lead an opposition, in exchange for a few pennies from the counterrevolutionary industry based in Miami. But a real political opposition does not exist in Cuba. No alternative proposal, well-conceived or poorly conceived, is being put forth. As a condition for ending the blockade, the U.S. government expects the substitution of Cuba’s politically stable people’s democracy for some form of representative democracy; and it expects subordinate economic and foreign policies. If such a neocolonial project could somehow be put into place, there would be very strong opposition from the people, led by the Communist Party, from the underground if it were to be necessary, which would have the capacity to immediately destabilize the new regime.
The closest thing to an opposition in Cuba is emigration, which the Revolution does not endorse but has coopted, calling upon the émigré communities to economically and politically support their native land and their revolution, a political perspective that has become a significant and organized force in the Cuban emigration. And there is in Cuba an academic ultra-leftist criticism, with idealist notions about socialism that are disconnected from Cuban reality, and which have very little support among the people and within the Party.
Thus, Cuba has the political will to continue on its sovereign road, and it will do so, regardless of the cost in economic and material terms. This is a fundamental political fact with respect to the Cuba-USA conflict.
Thirdly, the leaders of the Cuban Revolutionary Government possess a solid understanding of the causes of the current problems and their solutions. The solution is, as they repeatedly say, increasing production. Put more land under cultivation. Creatively search for new and more effective methods of production in agriculture and industry and in the providing of services. Reduce dependency on imports for needs. Look for new foreign investments in accordance with the principles of South-South cooperation, recognizing that South-South cooperation is a growing project in the world. Have faith that the problems will be overcome, and that the nation and the world will enjoy a future period of peace and prosperity. High officials in the Cuban government are continually visiting cities and towns throughout the country, assisting in the implementation of the policy, and constantly exhorting the people.
One problem with respect to Cuban political leaders is that many tend to overspeak. They use too many words, burying key words and key ideas in a flurry of words. This is a characteristic of Cuban culture, and it is displayed by the people as well. It is a characteristic that sometimes leads to miscommunication and misunderstanding, and for this reason, the Cuban President and the Cuban government are on a campaign of “social communication,” seeking to explain more and explain better. It is a characteristic, however, that does not negate understanding or sincerity.
In short, the Cuban leaders understand well, and they make constant efforts to explain. They are committed to continuing on the revolutionary road marked by Fidel, and the people are with them. If the people have to endure long waits at bus stops, they will, because, in the final analysis, it is a question of defending the sovereignty and the dignity of their nation.
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