Recently, a Cuban economist was calling for the Cuban state's involvement in the island's exchange rate policy. He said: "Regulation by the monetary authority is essential to maintain the stability of the currency market." Do we really want more regulation by the state? By this state? Don't we have enough examples of where state regulation has led us in these 65 years?
The economist said that thanks to that participation through the famous CADECAs, the government stabilized the exchange rate of the dollar for years. The reality is that said rate was based on a currency created by the Cuban state that guaranteed a supposed convertibility with foreign currencies, the infamous Cuban Convertible Peso or CUC.
But let's be clear, what was the CUC if not a pyramid scheme that ended up wiping out the savings of millions of Cubans overnight?
The government promised, for one dollar I give you one CUC and with that CUC you can buy everything you can buy with one dollar. Well, everything that the government offered you in its stores at inflated prices.
All remittances went into the hands of the government, and they would give out chavitos, mere promises of payment. Until one day, the government said, "I said one thing and now I say another," and the CUC is no longer convertible.
That famous 10-year stability was achieved at the expense of the foreign currency of Cubans and the petrodollars from Venezuela. But one day, the government suddenly confiscated all the dollars it owed to Cubans. Just to be clear, the CUC was nothing but a debt, a promise of payment that the government broke, washing its hands clean. The dollars? Squandered during the years of the "stability" of the CADECAs.
How many dollars did Cubans lose that day? Many, many millions were erased from the government's "accounting," because in reality, those dollars that supposedly backed the CUC had vanished years ago.
All the "stability" that has existed in Cuba has been at the expense of other economies, such as the USSR, Venezuela, the non-payment of debts, currency changes, and the theft of remittances.
Today, asking the government to participate in the foreign exchange market is inviting them to pull another dirty trick out of their sleeve. We have already seen what happened with the infamous MLC, which was supposed to be the great solution for the Cuban economy. At any moment they could introduce the Strong Cuban Peso or the Ultra Cuban Peso or any other fancy name. But it won't be to stabilize the exchange rate, it will be to steal more dollars in exchange for promises.
The Cuban government has had over 60 years to do everything for the economy of the island, and absolutely everything has been a disaster.
Today they just have to step aside and stop bothering. All Cubans, with freedom, will take care of fixing our country. Without them.
What do you think?
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