The ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel took part in the formation of a group of young people in Ciego de Ávila to combat what are considered abusive and speculative prices.
According to a post by the official newspaper Invasor on Facebook, the group consists of pre-university students, medical students, and others from various educational institutions.
The measure, which aims to "correct distortions in non-state management," assigns young people the responsibility of supervising and controlling prices in a context marked by inflation and widespread shortages in the country, as the province apparently does not have enough inspectors.
This action reflects a government strategy that, instead of addressing the structural causes of the economic crisis, places responsibilities on students that should belong to the relevant authorities.
The initiative has faced criticism for exposing young people to an environment rife with social tensions without providing real solutions to the underlying issues.
In the comments section, Cristian Domínguez challenged the regime: “Why aren’t the inspectors and police doing their jobs given their decent salaries? Do they have to pit the youth against speculating mafiosos? Will that army fighting against exorbitant prices also have jurisdiction in the MLC and USD stores? Because these are the places where prices are the most outrageous.”
Fidel Alejandro Ojeda César regarded this measure as yet another example of the government's folly under Díaz-Canel: "These ideas of regulation are only understood by those in the Central Committee. Speculation control only occurs under the law of supply and demand; if there are no products, prices rise, and if there are many, they decrease due to competition. Why don't the MLC apply the same rule?"
For his part, López Julio César stated, “These are the issues that have outraged the population, which explains the public discontent and the lack of trust in government institutions. It is inhumane how the private sector is being intimidated and constrained while the government fails to adjust the excessively high prices in the MLC stores. If we analyze the prices in MLC compared to those in the private sector, we will conclude that the stores are exploiting workers while the private sector is helping people put food on the table because the government is utterly incapable of feeding the population. Anyone can get angry, but that is the reality of Cuba, the law of the hoe. And don’t talk to me about external blockades; Mypimes were created primarily to circumvent the blockade. Everything that is coming in is coming from Miami through Mariel, right?”
In July, the Cuban government announced that it would impose fines exceeding 8,000 pesos on private businesses that failed to comply with the price ceiling for six basic high-demand products.
After the Ministry of Finance and Prices issued Resolution 225/2024, setting retail prices for cut chicken, edible oils (excluding olive oil), powdered milk, pasta, sausages, and powdered detergent, the regime launched a nationwide enforcement operation to identify price violations and penalize offenders.
Between August 17 and 23, the Ministry of Finance and Prices shut down businesses and withdrew work projects from 368 "non-state actors" as part of the ongoing government campaign to control the private sector.
In just one week, the government ordered the closure of 171 establishments and the termination of 197 projects by private entrepreneurs, in addition to carrying out 58 confiscations of products and 773 forced sales due to "detected violations."
Additionally, in Havana, as part of the "witch hunt," merchants were forced to make 77 mandatory sales of their products during a control operation.
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