The Cuban regime believes it is making progress with its measures to "correct distortions and re-boost the economy."

"From the lost, to the river" says the Spanish saying when an action has been initiated and one must try to complete it despite its dangers and accepting all the consequences, an expression that is applicable to the Cuban regime and its measures to "correct distortions and boost the economy."

According to the Instituto Cervantes, the proverb "is used to indicate that, in the face of a very difficult situation, one opts for the most outré solution, in this case represented by the decision to jump into the river, for example, in the face of the enemy's advance or a fire."

The leadership of the Cuban regime must be familiar with this expression, as the messages coming from the Palace of the so-called "revolution" make it evident the desperation of Miguel Díaz-Canel's government and its pathetic effort to show that its economic measures are working and the country is "progressing."

This Monday, the Council of State "analyzed the compliance with the timeline of the process for implementing the government's measures to correct distortions and revive the economy in 2024." According to Granma, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz intervened to present the report of the government's economic group on the implementation of the approved actions to "correct distortions and revive the economy."

And what are the conclusions of this group regarding the measures approved after the failure of the so-called "economic ordering"? Against all empirical evidence, the experts and advisors of Díaz-Canel conclude that "progress has continued in the projections aimed at the reactivation of national production."

Not only has progress been made in this. According to Marrero Cruz, progress has also been made in "generating foreign currency income for the country, the macroeconomic stabilization program, budget discipline, and reducing the fiscal deficit."

"But progress has also been made in 'promoting exports and reducing imports, strengthening the socialist state enterprise – as a primary actor in the Cuban economy – and the process of banking, among other issues that impact the population and the country's economy.'"

The question is, if in 2024 there has been "progress" in the implementation of the package of measures to "correct distortions and reboost the economy," why did the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, acknowledge at the beginning of September the failure of the government's strategy to prevent blackouts in the summer?

Oh, why in mid-July did Marrero Cruz himself acknowledge the lack of resources to maintain the regulated family basket? "Almost all the products in the family basket have to be imported, and this is the priority when allocating foreign currency for investment," he said.

If there is "progress," why at the beginning of July was the regime presenting a new package of measures to correct distortions and revive the economy in 2024, focused on adjusting the Plan and the Budget 2024 to the conditions of a "war economy"?

Nor is there progress, according to the regime itself, in tackling crime. Marrero Cruz himself acknowledged this in June, stating that crimes and illegal activities are increasing because "there is no progress in identifying and eliminating the causes and conditions that favor the proliferation of these phenomena."

Strange way of "advancing" for the Cuban regime, which at the end of May acknowledged its inability to meet the basic needs of the population, including health, food, energy, and transportation.

This was expressed by the Deputy Director General of the United States Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX), Johana Tablada de la Torre: "[We are] in a practically unprecedented situation of inability to meet the basic needs of our population. In all areas, in transportation, in food, in salaries," the official acknowledged. Of course, she blamed the "blockade."

What was Díaz-Canel doing recognizing in mid-April the disaster of transportation in Cuba? What was Marrero Cruz doing days before, acknowledging the failure of the banking process and the fiasco of the official exchange rate he established for foreign currencies as part of the "economic and monetary ordering"? But isn't progress being made in the area of banking?

Who can understand that "progress," when at the beginning of April, Díaz-Canel recognized that the situation in the country is critical and asked the people to have confidence in the future? He said it in his podcast Desde la Presidencia: the opinion of Cubans regarding the situation in the country, the scarcity of food, and the basic basket is "critical and negative." Who understands it?

He assured that better times will come, as long as the people know how to offer alternatives, work hard, make an effort, and take advantage of what he calls "creative resistance."

And what was the Secretary General of the Central Workers' Union of Cuba, Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, doing around that same time, admitting that the Cuban regime also fails to pay salaries to workers and pensions to retirees due to a lack of cash? And what was the First Deputy Minister of Economy and Planning, Mildrey Granadillo de la Torre, doing acknowledging that "the expected effect has not been achieved" following the increase in fuel prices?

And De la O Levy, what was he doing in mid-March accepting that Cuba was facing a "complex energy scenario," while assuring that the situation would improve in April? Around the same time, Marrero Cruz was making "reference to the public's opinion about the uncontrolled increase in prices and calling for effective solutions to stop the inflationary spiral." Is that progress?

"With the measures, little by little, we will reorder the economy. With the measures, little by little, we will move towards a better situation, and we will open the definitive path to prosperity and development that this heroic people deserves," said the ruler in January after approving the "paquetazo."

And in mid-January, he said: "You can make proposals. Whoever believes there are other things we can do to improve the country, we will do it. We need the situation we have lived in the last three years to change in 2024, for the reasons you know." Around that time, he also said that the "economy does not function according to everyone's needs and desires."

Given what we've seen, it seems that Cuba isn't "advancing" according to the needs and desires of everyone either.

"From loss, to the river," according to the Instituto Cervantes, is the option that remains for the desperate, that which leads to nothing mattering anymore, or to the most absurd idea representing the only solution.